Way To Normal
by Elyse Estheim
Summary: After awakening in the new world, Lightning and the others embark on what they hope will be a relatively uneventful final journey - making their way to a normal life. Unfortunately, things aren't shaping up to be quite as easy as they had hoped. (Rating for later chapters and some sporadic, more colorful language.)
1. Chapter 1: Landed

Thanks for taking an interest in my post-LR headcanon! I'll be keeping this as true to the existing canon as possible (to include Tracer of Memories... though that doesn't come until later in story's timeline), but some license will be taken as necessary. I haven't decided how long this is going to be yet, and all chapters will be posted on my tumblr first. Feel free to follow me there if you'd like. I got the story title from a Ben Folds album, so thought I'd carry on the trend in chapter titles, but it's not indicative of a soundtrack to the story. (I usually write while listening to the FFXIII soundtracks - keeps me in the proper mindset.)

Thanks to my lovely beta, RainbowSerenity! (She writes some lovely fanfiction as well. Should definitely read it, and follow her on tumblr.)

I welcome feedback, so please, if you have some, leave it there for me. :) I'll have the first three chapters posted here today (since they're already up on tumblr). Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter I: Landed**

The pleasant smell of wet grass. That was the first sensation she experienced on the new world.

Well, that, and the fact that she was face-down in it. She propped herself up just enough to lift her head and looked at her surroundings. The sun was about to emerge from below the horizon rather than having just dipped beyond it, judging by her increasing ability to clearly view the environment in which she found herself. Wherever she was featured a modest smattering of foliage-covered mountains in the middle distance, which she could easily see from her perch atop one of the gently rolling hills scattered across the mountain valley. Fields which mysteriously appeared to be cultivated lay in many of the flatter areas of the landscape, with small forest outcroppings dotting the valley. A couple of trees with red fruit hanging from the branches stood just in her periphery, with small berry-covered bushes littering the ground beneath them. As the light of day grew brighter, she could also see a few roads winding through the valley, and even some houses here and there. Off in the further distance, there appeared to be an entire village full of steeply sloped rooftops popping up on either side of a river running through not only the town, but the rest of the valley as well, for as far as Lightning could see. It was incredibly serene, despite the uncertainty as to where exactly she was, and the fact that she seemed to be alone.

Her eyes squinted in the face of the now visible, steadily rising sun. _A new dawn..._ she mused with a smile and looked down. _...In old clothes, _she added without disdain, noticing she was wearing her old Guardian Corps uniform. Thank goodness, too, because she was sure her Equilibrium garb was less than proper attire for... wherever this was. Pushing herself up to her knees and sitting atop her heels, Lightning let her eyes slide closed as the new sun warmed her straight to her core, only to have them snap back open at hearing a rustling noise nearby. She tensed and trained her line of sight to the bushes beneath the fruit trees, where she thought the sound had originated. It didn't _look_ particularly dangerous around here, but she knew better than to let her guard down in unfamiliar terrain, no matter how peaceful and perfect this new world was supposed to be.

"...Lightning?"

Her body immediately relaxed at the familiar voice. "Serah," she breathed in relief as her younger sibling emerged from the brush, picking a stray twig out of her bangs. Lightning rushed forward to embrace her sister for the first time in ages. She hadn't had the chance to do so when they had first reunited in the void where they defeated Bhunivelze, so she took full advantage now, dropping to her knees with Serah and burying her face in her sister's hair. "You're here..."

Serah initially said nothing, opting for a slow nod into Lightning's shoulder as tears ran freely down her face. "We're _both_ here."

After some time kneeling together and letting the reality that they were both here, out of danger, and alive and well sink in, Lightning pulled back and looked around. "Where is everybody?"

Serah was scanning their surroundings as well. "I didn't see anybody else before I found you. I woke up just down there," she explained, pointing beyond the trees and bushes to what was likely down the other side of the hill, "and came up here so I could see more of where we are."

Standing and offering a hand to help her sister do the same, Lightning further scrutinized the surrounding landscape in an effort to decide their next step. Serah appeared to be doing the same, but looking to Lightning to call the shots. And then, a modest home not too far off caught her eye. She squinted in an attempt to discern more detail, but it didn't seem to matter how much she could see. Something deep inside was urging her towards that particular house. "There," the older said, pointing towards their new destination. "Let's go there first. We'll see if whoever lives there can tell us anything helpful."

"Maybe we'll find some of our friends there," Serah wondered aloud, though doubt colored her words. Lightning had to agree that, while she felt _some_ sort of connection to the house, she didn't think they would find any of their little family there.

"...Maybe."

And with that, the reunited sisters started off on a light jog down the hill, slowing to a brisk walk as they made their way to the modest residence. As they grew closer, they came to a small paved road leading right up to the front drive. They were both thankful for the ease the smooth surface afforded them in their relatively short journey and quickened their steps. They were now close enough to see more detail in the home. The darker gray siding was an unusual choice for the rural setting, Lightning thought, but extremely attractive with the pure white trim and black fascia, soffit, and shutters. The front door was painted red, giving stark contrast to the adorable white front porch spanning the entire front of the home. Off to the side, a red bench swing drifted gently in the breeze. There was a detached garage set back from the house just a bit, which is where the path they now walked ended. Lightning could see a small garden peeking out from behind the house, and two cruiser-style bicycles were propped against the side of the garage.

It wasn't the kind of house she ever would have imagined herself in, until she saw it and fell in love with its quaint personality. Just the right amount of modern and traditional to avoid both discomfort and gaudiness. Maybe that's why she was so drawn to it?

"Sis, you coming?"

Lightning shook her head to clear her thoughts and caught up with Serah, who she hadn't noticed was now several steps ahead of her at the edge of the front porch. Together, the sisters stepped forward, stopping short of knocking.

"What should we say?" Serah wondered. Lightning only shrugged.

"We'll just ask whatever we need to in order to get the information we need. Everybody on this world came from the same place we did. Shouldn't be weird."

"What if they don't want to talk to us because they don't know us?" Serah didn't sound fearful, but rather like she was trying to plan for every possibility. "Or, ooh! What if we _do_ know them?"

"Then we won't have any trouble, right?" Lightning smiled at her sister, noting how the younger hadn't changed much at all. _Always wanting to be fully prepared..._

She raised her hand and knocked firmly on the solid red door. The two sisters heard some commotion inside, an unfamiliar woman's voice asking them to wait just a moment, the same voice asking "honey" to answer the door, and then a click of the handle turning. They were met with bespectacled hazel-brown eyes that narrowed and then went wide in surprise as their owner was struck with recognition. Lightning's eyes had gone just as wide, while Serah's gleamed in relief and familiarity.

"Lightning Farron? And Serah? What are you two doing here?"

"...Mr. Estheim?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Luckiest

**Chapter II: The Luckiest**

Neither could say anything more before a pair of pleasant green eyes momentarily hidden by platinum bangs appeared next to the man who had opened the door. "Honey, who's-" She stopped short when she realized who stood before them, her expression growing even brighter. "Ah!"

Lightning glanced at Serah, who was still beaming, and back to Bartholomew Estheim, still with his hand on the door handle, and the woman she knew must be his wife, Nora, since Hope was her spitting image. "Mr. and Mrs. Estheim," Lightning sputtered, a little embarrassed at how unsure of herself she sounded, "we apologize for coming by so early unannou-"

"_Non_sense, my dear girl," Nora exclaimed, clasping her hands together, then beckoning them inside. "Come in, come in!" Bartholomew smiled gently at the two girls as he stepped aside to allow them to follow his wife inside.

Lightning glanced around at the interior of the home whose exterior she so appreciated and found it to be just as pleasing. Cream-colored walls with walnut trim and matching hardwood floors; grand double-wide archways where doors might have been in a closed floor plan; tasteful, yet unassuming leather furnishings; and the same family photos she had seen in the Estheim residence in Palumpolum decorating one wall in gallery-style display. The windows were as tall as they were wide with kelly green ceiling-height curtains pulled to either side to allow for as much natural light as possible.

The great room just off to the right of the small entryway featured a stone fireplace with a decorative walnut mantle settled between two of the larger windows in the room, and a massive ceiling fan spun in the center, guiding the breeze outside throughout the home by way of strategically opened windows. Lightning and Serah removed their shoes and placed them neatly by the front door as Nora returned from a nearby closet with two pairs of slippers for the girls.

"Please, make yourselves at home. I'll get you both some tea," the kindly woman insisted over her shoulder as she moved toward the kitchen Lightning had noticed to her left. "Would either of you like your tea sweetened?"

"Just a little for me," Serah answered, and Lightning indicated the same. With a satisfied nod, Nora disappeared behind the partition separating the kitchen from the entryway.

"Please have a seat," Bartholomew offered as he motioned to the oversized leather couch positioned in the center of the great room. The two girls sank into the incredibly comfortable cushions. Serah seemed completely at ease, but Lightning couldn't shake the feeling that something was… off. "I'm so glad you both are safe," Bartholomew sighed as he took a seat in one of the matching leather armchairs facing the couch. "We haven't seen anyone else we know since we woke up here."

"Pure luck, Mr. Estheim," Lightning voiced as she settled in, trying to ignore the strange feeling prickling in the back of her mind. "We had no idea who lived here until you answered the door. I just had this feeling that we should start our search here."

"Sir, when _did_ you and your wife wake up?" Serah asked, her curiosity evident in the way she leaned forward. "Wouldn't we all have awoken at the same time?" Lightning looked up to the side as Nora came into the room carrying a tray with four full glasses, a pitcher, and a plate with some toast and three different varieties of jam.

"Dig in, girls," Nora urged as she placed the tray on the coffee table in front of them, moving to take her own seat in the armchair opposite the one occupied by her husband. "If you feel anything like we did when we woke up, you must be famished. I have ham, biscuits, and eggs cooking as well, but I thought you could do with a little something in the meantime."

It was only then that Lightning realized how hungry she was. Serah must have had a similar realization, because they each reached for a piece of toast the same time, smiling in thanks at Nora.

"It was three days ago," Bartholomew began, glancing fondly at his wife as he reached for his own glass. "It was like we had only been sleeping for the night, and we woke up in our room next to each other, just like we used to, and all of our things were here as you see them."

"It wasn't a shock at all, either… which was strange, because we both knew what had happened," Nora continued in between sipping her tea. "We remembered you telling our son to leave you behind." The intensity of Nora's expression made Lightning a little uncomfortable, but she forced herself to maintain eye contact with her. It almost made her feel as if it was Hope sitting there recounting events with how similar his features were to his mother's, and she found some comfort in that.

"He had come to us at your insistence, but kept looking back for you," Hope's father explained. "He stopped dead in his tracks and refused to go any further when we heard you calling for help."

"Even though we all knew the consequences of him going back, we both told him without hesitation to go to you." Nora's gaze fell to her tea, her tone strangely apologetic. "He couldn't just leave you when you needed him."

"Especially given that you never left him when _he_ needed _you,_" Bartholomew added. "It was a no-brainer for all of us, really."

Lightning was taken aback. "You… could hear me, too?" She felt her face burning as she recalled her desperate cries in the darkness of the chaos just before her own salvation, courtesy of the two most important people in her life.

"We _all_ heard you, dear," Nora clarified, placing her hand on Lightning's arm in reassurance. "Every soul. And we all knew it was Hope who would come to your rescue. Who were we to stand in his way, when it meant saving the one who had saved him time and time again?"

Lightning's gaze fell. "I put him in so much danger, ever since the stupid Purge," she lamented. "I _did _leave him when he needed me. I couldn't protect him from anything after I was dragged to Valhalla. Even with him right in front of me, I couldn't protect him from Bhunivelze."

"That wasn't your fault, Sis, and I don't think Hope would have had it any other way," Serah surmised, breaking the momentary silence.

"What do you mean, Serah? He was tor…" She stopped herself from saying _tortured_ to avoid upsetting Hope's parents, but Nora was quick to intercede.

"Lightning," she began steadily, "I know you never met me before today, but I was able to watch over Hope after I was gone. I know what he went through, both with you there and after you disappeared." Nora paused as her voice faltered ever so slightly. "I couldn't see him after Bhunivelze… _took_ him… but I could see you."

"So could I," Bartholomew chimed in. "You may not know this, Lightning, but Hope looked for you for centuries."

Lightning swallowed hard and nodded. "I know. I… watched him from Valhalla. If I couldn't be there to protect him, I was at least going to keep an eye out."

"I mean _after_ the chaos flooded the world as well. He still searched for you then. I think Bhunivelze knew that, because he used your image to trap him."

Lightning stiffened in horror. "…What?"

"It was heartbreaking, seeing the look on Hope's face every time he thought he caught a glimpse of you, or heard your voice off in the distance," the older man confessed. "Bhunivelze taunted him for decades upon decades with those hallucinations. Your image was always just out of Hope's reach. A part of him knew it wasn't really you, but he knew you were alive, so there was always that little doubt…"

"Hope eventually couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't anymore," Nora picked up as her husband trailed off. "He was already depressed thanks to the general state of things, but the idea that you were finally so close, yet so far out of reach destroyed his spirit, and Bhunivelze took full advantage." She paused and gently squeezed Lightning's wrist to steady her. Lightning hadn't realized her body was trembling enough to rattle the ice in her glass. "I'm not sure what happened after that, since I couldn't see him once he was taken. I watched you during the last days, though, in hopes he wouldn't be far behind. And I was right. I still couldn't see him, but I could hear him through you."

"Hope would never tell you any of this, of course," Bartholomew chortled. "I'm sure he would think he was just being a burden. But it's important that you know how special you are to him." Hope's father leaned forward in his chair and continued. "It's also important that we tell you how grateful we are to you for being there for him."

Lightning hung her head to allow her bangs to shield her eyes. She might have invited her childlike spirit in the form of Lumina back into herself, but she still wasn't comfortable with others seeing her get emotional. She squeezed her glass so hard that her knuckles turned white, managing to relax her body a little. The storm inside her was far from calming, but she knew Hope was safe now. She took a deep, cleansing breath and met Nora's eyes again with her own.

"Is Hope here? I…" Lightning faltered, "I want to apologize to him."

"For what, my dear?" Nora laughed, partially at Lightning's now bemused expression. "You have _nothing_ to apologize for. Hope used his head and followed his heart. A mother can never wish for more for her child."

"Even so… I'd like to see him."

"I have things to thank him for, too," Serah admitted. "Is he still asleep or something?"

The Estheims glanced at each other, then to their hands before Bartholomew answered. "Hope… isn't here."


	3. Chapter 3: Cologne

**Chapter III: Cologne**

Lightning's head cocked to the side. "Isn't… here?" she repeated slowly.

"Then where is he?" Serah pressed.

Nora only shook her head. "We don't know. We've looked around the immediate area as much as we've been able, but there's no sign of him yet."

Lightning's brow furrowed once more. She had _known_ something was missing from this otherwise perfect home, and only now did she realize that something was Hope's presence. "Have you found anyone around who might know?"

"Not yet," Bartholomew admitted. "We've made some calls, but so far, no luck."

Serah watched her sister in her periphery, empathizing with how she and the Estheims must have been feeling. She was still sans her fiancé, after all. Still, it was strangely comforting (though not without an edge of guilt) to know that Hope had not awoken on this world with his parents. She had thought Snow, of all people, would have shown up next to her here, but if Hope hadn't appeared with his beloved mother and father, it made some sort of weird sense that her hero was nowhere to be found in the short time since she had opened her eyes. After some time in silence had passed, she broke it with another burning question. "Mr. and Mrs. Estheim, do you know what this place is called?"

"The planet itself is called Earth," Bartholomew explained. "The country in which we find ourselves is France, and the town is Alsace."

"Okay," Serah nodded, committing the information to memory.

"How do you know that?" Lightning asked with an edge of suspicion she quickly regretted.

"Sis!"

"We get the paper," Bartholomew grinned, holding up a roll of crisp newsprint. He handed it to a sheepish-appearing Lightning, who quickly opened it, only partially as a distraction, and began flipping slowly through the pages. As she did, a beeping sound interrupted the silence in the room, at which Nora stood and headed back into the kitchen.

"We've taken out an ad in the Classifieds asking for any information about Hope," she told them over her shoulder before disappearing once more into the kitchen.

"We figure, as much as that boy reads, he's bound to find it sooner or later and call us." Bartholomew motioned to the Classifieds section as Lightning turned to it, her eyes wandering the page. She was a little surprised to find that almost every ad in the section was somebody looking for somebody else.

_So many people are separated that aren't supposed to be,_ she mused apprehensively, just as the name _Estheim_ caught her eye on the page before her.

LOOKING FOR: Hope Nolan Estheim, former Director of the Academy;  
please call Nora and Bartholomew Estheim with any information-

"Could I borrow a pen and paper, Mr. Estheim?" Lightning asked, and the older man near immediately produced the items for her. She wrote down the number in the Estheims' ad and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Just call me by my first name, Lightning," the man insisted as he settled back in his seat. "I can understand why you would question the information, though," he admitted, watching her as she copied the number.

"I shouldn't have done that," Lightning said apologetically. "I'm just… not used to trusting people."

Bartholomew chuckled, rising from his seat in order to assist his wife in the kitchen. On the way, he placed a hand on Lightning's shoulder as she looked up at his wistful smile. "You've spent centuries being tricked, taken advantage of, persecuted, and in constant danger. I'd be wary, too." The seasoned father squeezed the young woman's shoulder supportively as she dropped her gaze. "Poor thing. You've had it rough." Then, removing his hand, he told the sisters to relax and look around while he and Nora finished preparing breakfast. "Our home is your home so long as you wish to stay," he had said before joining his wife beyond their line of sight.

Lightning said nothing for some time as she stared at the paper, and Serah, who had had enough with fidgeting beside her, stood to investigate. The younger Farron took the opportunity to scan the many books propped up on built-in shelves along a wall a few steps behind the couch, occasionally removing one or another from its perch and flipping through to find out as much as she could about this new world. She figured she could at least do that and give her sister some time to process the information they had just been given. Truth be told, Serah was a bit shell-shocked after learning of Hope's psychologic torture at the hands of Bhunivelze, and she didn't even see the _physical _variety Lightning had seen during her battle with the old god. A large part of her wanted to be angry, but what was the point? What was done was done. Bhunivelze was dead, trapped in crystal for all eternity, and they had this beautiful new planet to call home. The god had intended for this to be a place of perfection, so while she was sure there were still dangers, she was confident no one would come across anything they couldn't handle. Besides that - and she couldn't explain why - she _knew_ that Hope was okay, as were Snow and the rest of their friends. She was positive they would all find each other again. If only she could figure out _when_.

"Sis?" Serah pried after noticing her sister had finally stood from the couch.

"I'm going to see if the Estheims need any help in the kitchen. I can't just sit here or I'll go crazy." And with that, Lightning took the tray Nora had brought in with all but Serah's glass on it and left the great room. Serah remained, but left the book she had been reading about the geography of the French countryside in lieu of reading the paper, the _L'Alsace-Le Pays_, that her sister had left on the coffee table. She was curious as to how there could even _be _a paper so soon after the new world's creation, but she supposed Bhunivelze would have made sure anything and everything necessary for some utopian lifestyle would already have been in place for its inhabitants. She scanned the front page, noting a story about some new hospital opening up in Alsace proper. She flipped through subsequent pages, reading about an upcoming wine festival, some sort of riverboat tour of the town, updates on the local cathedral rehabilitation project, and several smaller stories on latter pages about the latest reunions thanks to classified ads in the paper. She vaguely noted as she read that the language the paper was written in was quite different from that used on Pulse and Cocoon, but somehow she understood it perfectly. Must have been another weird god thing or something, she figured, and decided not to question it further for the time being. Settling on the classifieds, which spanned at least six pages, she sat forward with the paper spread on the table in front of her to look for any familiar names.

In the kitchen, the Estheims turned away from the biscuits Nora had just pulled from the oven as Lightning strolled in with the tray.

"Oh, Lightning, you didn't have to bring that in! We'll take care of everything," Nora admonished, moving to relieve Lightning of her burden. She paused, however, as the younger woman smiled and shook her head.

"Please, Mrs. Estheim, I'd like to help. I don't really like sitting around when there's work to be done."

Bartholomew chuckled and Nora conceded. "Of course. And call me Nora. 'Mrs. Estheim' makes me feel like an old woman when you're how old?"

"Twenty-one," Lightning droned, and then paused. "Though I think technically I'm something like… what, over five-hundred years old? Over a thousand? Maybe even older…" She pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to figure it all out. There was so much that she just _knew_, which she assumed was a side effect of Bhunivelze's design. He _had_ intended for this world to be an established domain for its incoming residents, but one thing she wasn't sure about, after everything that had happened, was her age.

"Works for me," Nora said with a glint in her eye, and winked at Lightning. "I decided I'm still thirty-nine, since that's how old I was during the Purge."

"And I suppose I'm still forty-two, even though I lived a few years beyond that," Bartholomew added, grinning at his wife. "Nora and I were always only three years apart, so that's what we're going with."

"You certainly don't look like you're in your fifties, honey," Nora said innocently, though the hip-check she gave her husband as she passed by him suggested the same mirth her eyes shone with. She steadily carried a platter piled with the fresh biscuits and eggs to the table. "Get the ham out, would you? It should be done now."

Bartholomew dutifully acquiesced, pulling the delicious-smelling breakfast meat from the top compartment of the double oven and placing it atop the stove to allow for slicing and plating. At Nora's instruction, Lightning took the tray she was still holding into the attached dining room beyond the kitchen, a feeling of contentment rising within her thanks to the view offered by the room with more window than wall.

"Your home is beautiful," she commented as she gazed out the windows. Paying unnecessary attention to her hands as she set the tray on the long maple table, she added quietly, "Hope is going to love this place after being cooped up in the Ark for so long."

Nora smiled gently. "Yes, I think so, too. He always used to complain that our home in Palumpolum was too dark."

Lightning grinned in spite of the guilt she still harbored after their earlier conversation and continued setting the tray's contents at each place setting. She took the empty tray to Bartholomew for the ham. Nora followed to assist in the transfer, but quite suddenly drew Lightning into a warm embrace. The young woman tensed in surprise.

"Lightning…" Nora wavered as her husband placed a hand each on her shoulder and Lightning's, "thank you. Thank you so, so much for taking care of our son."

Lightning softened as she heard Nora's breath hitch, bringing a hand to Bartholomew's arm and the other coming to rest awkwardly on Nora's back. "It was my pleasure."

Nora inhaled sharply as she let go, shaking her head until her sunny disposition replaced the sudden display of raw emotion. "We have faith that he's okay, wherever he is. You taught him well." The Estheims nodded in gratitude once more, returning to the issue of their meal. Nora took the tray of ham from her husband and turned towards the table. "Honey, would you mind getting Serah? I'll set this out for us."

"It's okay, I'll get her," Lightning interjected. "I want to get the pa-"

"SIS!"

"…or nevermind." The younger Farron was already rushing into the room, waving the newspaper in her hand. "What did you find?"

Serah beamed as she spread the paper out on the kitchen island. The other three adults crowded around as she opened the paper to the middle of the classifieds. "Look there, on the right," she instructed after she found the exact page she was looking for.

Lightning leaned over, looking through the countless "LOOKING FOR" postings. She couldn't see what Serah was so excited about, though. "…Where?"

Exasperated, Serah tapped a slightly larger general advertisement repeatedly with her finger. "_There_." The older of the sisters scanned the ad's contents quickly, her face brightening all the while.

"No way," she breathed. "A mechanic shop called Katzroy's!"

Bartholomew pointed further along the text over Lightning's shoulder. "And it's in Strasbourg! That isn't too far from here. I'm assuming Sazh Katzroy owns the place?"

"Judging by the chocobo in the logo, I'd say it's a safe bet," Serah grinned.

Nora clasped her hands together. "Perfect! We were going to take you girls into town later for supplies anyway!"

"But for now, breakfast is getting cold," Bartholomew chimed in, ushering the three ladies to the table. "We'll get everything taken care of later."

The group sat down together, Nora and Serah eagerly planning out the rest of the day with the lone man in the house interjecting here and there. Lightning smiled to herself. It had been a while since she had eaten at any table where she felt like she belonged, much less one where she felt like part of a whole family. She just hoped she could find some way to get all three Estheims back together. She _would_ get them all back together. She owed them that. She _really_ owed that to Hope.

"That ham isn't getting any warmer, Lightning," Bartholomew chided, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Judging by how long those two have been planning, you're gonna need your strength." They cast wry looks in the direction of the constant chatter, resuming the clearing of their plates.

After a pleasant end to breakfast, Nora guided the girls upstairs. "There's a guest suite there, Serah, and Lightning, you can use this suite here," she instructed as she lead them to two doors down a long hallway. "Each suite has its own bathroom, so you'll have some privacy. There are fresh towels, linens, fully stocked toiletries, everything you'll need in the rooms already. Both of you get freshened up and rest for a bit while I get those clothes washed. Just leave everything you need cleaned outside the bathroom doors and I'll collect it in a bit."

Lightning and Serah tried to tell Nora she didn't have to do that, but Mrs. Estheim would hear none of it. She shooed the girls to their respective rooms and turned on her heel to retrieve a laundry basket. The sisters grinned at each other before Serah turned and entered her room, commenting on how a shower would be nice after having woken up outside. Lightning stepped into her own temporary quarters, stopping short as she took in the surroundings. The room was meticulously clean, but was very obviously meant to be Hope's. Textbooks and other reference books lined a tall shelf propped against the wall to the left of the door with a simple desk positioned below it. A full-size bed with plain blue linens stood under a panoramic window spanning the wall directly opposite the door with a nightstand to the side of the modest headboard. She could see a couple picture frames arranged on top of it on either side of a lamp. On another wall hung a few different boomerang models. Lightning ran her fingers along the familiar Airwing model fondly as she inspected them. A few diplomas were displayed on the wall near the desk, which had another picture frame propped on it next to a small laptop computer.

Stepping to the bedside, Lightning picked up one of the picture frames. It held a copy of the Estheim family photo she had seen both downstairs and in Palumpolum. She replaced it on the nightstand and examined the other frame, which, to her surprise, held a picture of her, Hope, an injured Snow, and Fang at the Estheim residence just before they had left with the Cavalry. The vantage point looked like the photo had been taken from one of the airships, and the quality appeared to be that of a security camera, but it was unmistakably the four of them.

"Captain Rygdea gave that to Bartholomew after the Academy was founded."

Lightning jumped at Nora's voice. She hadn't heard the woman enter the room, carrying Serah's laundry in the basket propped on her hip.

"I'm sorry," Nora laughed, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, Mrs. Est… er, Nora. Not to worry," Lightning dismissed with a wave of her hand. It's just... how is all of this here?"

"I suppose the same way everything else was here when we woke up," Nora shrugged, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "It's almost everything Hope owned back in the old world." Placing the basket on the foot of the bed, Nora retraced her steps and picked up the frame on of the desk. "This is mine, though. Don't know where it came from, but I'm not complaining"

Lightning took the frame as Nora offered it and softened on seeing the photo's subject. It was Hope, in his office at the Academy Headquarters, likely around the time he was in his later twenties. His jacket was slung over the arm of his chair, his tie undone and loosely draped around the back of his neck, and his white dress shirt unbuttoned halfway, revealing a black undershirt. He had apparently dozed off in the midst of examining a holographic blueprint of the New Cocoon, head resting on one arm splayed across the desktop. He looked fairly peaceful, but Lightning had a nagging suspicion that was due more to pure exhaustion than a sense of contentment.

"He might be a grown man there, but sleeping like that, he might as well still be my little man passed out in his crib," Nora sighed. Lightning traced the edge of the photo gently as Nora reminisced, then handed the frame back to her and turned to the bed.

"I'll just put everything in the basket for you, Nora," Lightning stated as she removed her leg pouch. The older woman nodded and turned to leave the room.

"I'll be back for it in a few minutes. There's a robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door as well," Nora mentioned. "It's Hope's, but his father gave it to him when he was nineteen so it might be a little big. Shot up like a weed after his sixteenth birthday."

"I'm sure it's fine," Lightning insisted with a smile. Nora returned it, and as she left, Lightning thanked her again for their hospitality.

"Like my husband said," she reminded, "our home is your home." And with that, she closed the door behind her. Lightning finished disrobing, leaving everything in the basket as promised, and retired to the spacious bathroom. Nora had come in after she turned on the shower and had called to Lightning to tell her not to worry about how much hot water she used, since "tankless water heaters never run out." Whatever that was, Lightning made a mental note to make sure wherever she ended up living had one.

She still showered relatively quickly, though, afterwards drying off and donning the expectedly oversized dark green robe. She was shocked to find that it still smelled like Hope. Well, what Hope must have smelled like as a young adult, since the slightest hint of cologne remained in the midst of his natural scent. Breathing deeply as she burrowed further into the soft terry cloth fabric, she laid back on the moderately firm mattress. _I guess I know now how he could always sleep on the ground without much trouble_. Lightning found his scent comforting, almost as if her long-time partner was physically there next to her, just like the countless times before. Resting her head on the contrastingly soft down pillow, she continued inhaling deeply and slowly, remembering the days with Hope and the rest of her companions until her consciousness faded.

_Light…?_

Lightning opened her eyes at the sound of the familiar voice, but saw nothing but a gray mist. She couldn't even see the ground on which she sat. "…Hope? Where are you?" She paused. "Actually, where are _we_?"

_Not sure. _Hope's voice echoed through the mist, but it seemed more like it was coming from inside her head. _I don't think I'm awake yet. Do you know where you are?_

"With Serah and your parents. We woke up not far from their house."

_You did? Are they okay?_

"Bartholomew and Nora are both lovely. They're taking Serah and me into town later to pick up some things."

She felt rather than heard Hope's mirth. _Sounds like them. What town are you in?_

"We're in…"

_…__in…?_

"I…"

_Do you not know what it's called?_

"No, I _do_ know… I just… can't seem to remember. The hell?"

_Hm. Noel couldn't remember, either. He just knew he was with Yeul, and that they'd been awake for a couple of days._

"Noel? You talked to him?"

_Yeah, not too long ago. …I think…_

"Your robe is really comfortable, Hope," Lightning blurted.

_…__huh? My robe?_

"The green one your dad gave you."

_Where did you get that old thing?_

"It was just here at your parents' place. Most of your stuff is, actually. Including your Airwing."

_Is my Nue there?_

"…Not that I could see, but I may not have recognized it. There are, like, six models on display, and I'm much better with gunblade models. You know that."

_That I do,_ Hope laughed. _It's odd that it's all there, though. I wonder if we all have places already prepared for us here._

"I'm not sure why we wouldn't all wake up in those places, though. Your parents did. Even all your family pictures from your old house are here."

_Yeah… well, I'm sure we'll all end up where we're meant to before long._

"We know where Sazh is, Hope. I'm assuming Dajh is with him since there wasn't anything in the paper asking his whereabouts-"

_The paper?_

"The local paper here has a huge section for people to post for information on anyone they're missing. Your parents have an ad there for you."

_Huh._

"I didn't know your middle name was Nolan. I thought it would have been your dad's name or something."

_Hah, yeah. Mom wanted it to be, but Dad thought it was a mouthful. _Hope sounded wistful and Lightning felt that familiar pang of guilt in her stomach. _Where is Sazh?_

"He runs a mechanic shop in the town we're going to later… ugh, why can't I remember any of these places' names!?"

_I suspect it's a byproduct of this dream state,_ Hope theorized, the scientist taking over._ We can somehow communicate in real time, but we can't see each other, we can't discern direction, and we can't do a thing as far as letting on to our respective locations. We also don't seem to be able to choose who we want to talk to at will. I'm not sure how Noel contacted me, or I contacted him or whatever, but I haven't been able to communicate with my parents at all. _There was that wistful tone again. _I've been trying for days to find you._

Lightning swallowed hard. "D… d'you want me to pass anything along?" She decided against commenting on how he seemed to always be searching for her. There would be time for apologies later.

_That's okay, Light. I'm sure I'll be able to tell them soon, and I'd rather they heard it straight from me._

"I'll at least tell them you're okay."

_Thanks, Light._

"No problem." She said nothing further for a time, but then a thought occurred to her. She couldn't remember the name of where she was, but she could remember what it looked like. Maybe that would help them figure out where they were.

"Hey, Hope?"

No response.

"…Hope?"

Still nothing.

"Hope!"

* * *

And now you're all caught up with what's been posted on tumblr so far! Feedback is much appreciated! :)

Except for con weekends (looking at you, DragonCon), new chapters will be posted on Sundays on my tumblr, and Mondays on here. Many thanks again to RainbowSerenity for her beta services! She's awesome and you should definitely check out her work on here and tumblr (I posted the links in chapter 1). See you next week!


	4. Chapter 4: Not The Same

**Chapter notes:** This is a little later in the day than I wanted, but maaaaan, this mama was in serious need of a nap after my Board meeting today. (Which was super exciting, by the way - I'm on the Board for Green Wish St. Louis, which is the newest chapter of Raphael Sbarge and Ed Begley, Jr's nonprofit. Once I have some more information to post about it, I'll be doing so!)

Thanks as always to my lovely beta, RainbowSerenity ! :)

Here's where we left off:

"I'll at least tell them you're okay." _Thanks, Light._ "No problem." She said nothing further for a time, but then a thought occurred to her. She couldn't remember the name of where she was, but she could remember what it looked like. Maybe that would help them figure out where they were. "Hey, Hope?" No response. "…Hope?" Still nothing. "Hope!"

And now for chapter 4. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter IV: Not The Same**

A pair of pale green eyes snapped open. _Lightning…_

Hope propped himself up on his elbows, squeezing his eyes shut in his effort to commit the entire conversation he'd just had to memory. He wasn't even sure it had been real, but he wasn't going to take the chance that it wasn't and just let it go. He definitely didn't remember the conversation with Noel he had alluded to in the dream, so he made a concentrated effort not to forget a single detail of this one. Nothing had been said that could help him find Lightning, Serah, or his parents, but knowing they were all okay was enough for the time being.

Off in the distance, the sound of gently crashing waves, along with the salt-tinged air, alerted him of his proximity to the ocean, but he didn't seem near enough to see it...until he turned around, anyway. The expanse of seawater was interrupted here and there by rocky outcroppings and small islands, some of which had residences on them. Hope stood slowly, his eyes closing as the cool, salty breeze ruffled his hair. He was pleased to see that his soul had returned to his adult body. It wasn't that he harbored no fondness for his teenaged visage, but after everything it had been through - more or less without him...

He shook off a chill that coursed through him. Best not to dwell on it. At least for now. "Okay, now to find out where I am…"

"Who cares, it's near the ocean, kid!" a familiar voice boomed as a large hand clapped his shoulder from behind. Hope whipped around in surprise. Sure enough, there stood over six feet of muscle, joviality, and a signature thumbs-up, the same confident, near-constant grin gracing the man's grizzled features.

"Snow." Hope smirked as he looked not as far up as he once did to meet the man's eyes, raising an eyebrow as he caught sight of what he was sporting in lieu of his beloved bandana. "Your Yusnaan style was better. You look like a chocobo with your hair like that."

Snow shrugged in response. "Eh, Serah didn't seem to mind it. And this way, it stays out of my face."

"Also, I do believe I'm older than you now," Hope continued.

"You'll always be a kid to me!"

"Now you sound like Sazh." Hope grinned. "Who loves chocobos."

"Everybody loves me, bro."

"_Every_body, Snow?"

"Even Sis! She just won't admit it," Snow said confidently as he brought one arm across his chest to stretch his deltoid. Hope had fallen silent at the mention of his partner as his mind drifted back to his 'talk' with her.

"You know, I talked to Light this morni-"

"Dude, it's like, the middle of the afternoon and you just woke up," Snow interrupted. "I've been waiting over there for _hours_," he added, hitching a thumb towards a nearby boulder, and winked. "Would've left you there if you hadn't gotten up when you did."

"Whatever. Anyway, I talked to her-" Hope began again, only for Snow to interject once more.

"How? You were dead to the world, man!"

"I think we were both dreami-"

"Whoa, ho, _ho, _kid! I mean I could tell you had a thing for-"

"Snow! _Stop_ interrupting!" Hope took a mildly exasperated breath, grinning as a wave of nostalgia hit. Even at 27, Snow managed to bring out the reactive teenager Hope had (mostly) grown out of in the many years since his time as a l'Cie. _You _are_ consistent._ The self-proclaimed hero mimed zipping his mouth shut and crossed his arms as he waited for Hope to continue, though the playful smirk remained. "Now then. Apparently I was also able to communicate with Noel, but I don't remember that. I only know because I mentioned it briefly when I was talking to Light." Hope continued explaining the conversation to Snow, gesticulating emphatically as he tended to do when theorizing. Snow listened intently as Hope recounted every word, to his credit only interrupting again at the mention of his fiancée, though Hope understandably let that one slide.

"So where do we start," Snow wondered after Hope had finished, "if Sis didn't even remember the name of the town they're in? Which, by the way, I am never letting her live down."

"Noel couldn't remember either," Hope reminded him quickly. "I think it was a side effect of the mist in the dream state. It was like, I could only hear Light in my head, rather than her actual voice. I think it was intentional, like whatever produced the environment didn't _want _us to find each other."

"So? Doesn't mean I can't give her a hard time," Snow joked.

"You're hopeless, Snow."

"But you're right here!"

"Ugh." Hope straightened his Academy jacket, which he was a little surprised to find he was wearing again, and scanned the surroundings for anywhere he might find some information as to their current whereabouts. Most of the homes he could see were either quite a ways off or required some sort of boat to get to, so they were out. Besides that, he didn't want to disturb anybody he didn't know. Then, off a ways down a rocky path he noted a small road, along which was a decent-sized, two-story general store. There were a few cars parked to the side of it near some sort of fuel pump, which he hoped was an indication it was open. "We should probably try that place," Hope said as he directed Snow's line of sight with his finger. "Chances are good they have a map of the area."

But Snow had already started off in that direction. "Well, come on, kid, you don't want to get left behind!"

Rolling his eyes more in fondness than annoyance, Hope set off at a light jog until he caught up with Snow, whose stride he was pleased to see he could easily match as an adult. Snow had taken notice as well. "Weird that you're not, y'know, yea high," the jovial man remarked, holding his hand just above his waistline, which Hope swatted away.

"I was never that short," he grumbled, "but I guess that would be strange for you since you never saw me after you left to find Light."

"What do you mean? Of course I did, remember? When I saved you guys from that Alyssa chick?"

"…Alyssa?"

Snow made an exasperated noise as he elaborated. "You know, your whacked out, murderous assistant?"

"…my assistant's name was Aina, and she certainly wasn't the killing type," Hope said curiously. "There _was_ an Alyssa, but she wasn't my assistant. She was rarely around, actually, and then she just sort of… disappeared before the old Cocoon fell." Hope wasn't sure what Snow was talking about, and, judging by his bemused expression, Snow felt similarly, at least until something appeared to click in the now younger man's mind.

"Ah! Must've been one of those paradoxes."

"A paradox?"

"When we caught Alyssa trying to send Serah and Noel off into some trap Caius had set. She had also been plotting to kill you at the time." Seeing Hope's still blank expression, Snow prodded, "You _really_ don't remember that, huh? Psycho holding out a fake artefact for Serah, me busting in at the last second to save the day, taking Serah with me and leaving Noel to keep you from getting killed? Nothin'?"

"Nope." Hope had drawn out the word for emphasis. "But I do know that my memories had been changed before as Serah and Noel fixed each paradox. It's strange that _you_ remember it, though."

"Probably because I was jumping around time just like they were. Serah could remember the different timelines, too."

"You're probably right," Hope conceded, removing his jacket and tie and unbuttoning a few of the buttons of his dress shirt as the temperature was a fair amount warmer further from the ocean's edge. The jacket felt a little heavier than he remembered. He searched the pockets hidden in the lining and was shocked to find a familiar switchblade in his left breast pocket. "…What is this doing here?"

"Figures," Snow sighed dramatically, completely ignoring Hope's discovery. "One of my finest entrances and the damsel in distress can't even remember it!"

Hope adjusted the jacket to make sure the knife would stay put and thrust his elbow into a mirthful Snow's arm, smirking in satisfaction when he saw him wince in his periphery and rub the point of impact. "Funny."

"That's me." Snow turned his attention to the storefront they had finally reached, removing his own black jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his burgundy shirt as he reached for the door. "Man, I am _starved_. I hope this place has steak or something."

"Somehow I doubt steak from the corner store is something you should eat," Hope remarked, wrinkling his nose in disdain. "Light's is better, anyway."

Suddenly, Snow stopped short in front of him and thrust his fist in the air. "Not better than _this _steak, or whatever else they have here! Hey, guys!"

Hope peeked out from behind Snow's towering form and felt his jaw drop. Standing behind a cashier's counter was a familiar head of permanently blue-dyed hair. Behind a fully stocked deli counter to the side of the entryway stood the only female founder of Snow's old ragtag group of vigilantes, and the two members he hadn't seen at first had emerged from the back of the store, somehow managing not to knock everything off the shelves as they tore through the narrow aisles.

"Snow!"

"Hey, boss!"

Hope smiled as he watched the happy (and predictably rambunctious) reunion of the group he had once despised for their perceived mockery of his mother's name. He took the opportunity to give the deli's menu a once-over, relieved to find steak was _not_ an option. Still, there was quite a selection, and he was sure that Lebreau's legendary cooking would do well to sate the intense hunger eating away at him.

"Who's your friend, Snow?" Maqui asked, snapping Hope out of his introspection. Not that the arm that now hooked his neck wouldn't have done that.

"It's Hope!" Snow exclaimed. "Y'know, director of the Academy, benefactor and protector of the human race, genius who built a new freakin' planet-"

"Hope! Good to see you," Lebreau said with a friendly wave. "Still as hot as ever, I see."

Hope's face grew warmer as he waved dismissively and went to shake the woman's hand. "Nice to see you again as well, Lebreau. I appreciate the compliment."

"Hm. None for me in return, huh?" she said suggestively, a mischievous glint in her eye as she winked.

Hope sputtered and held his hands in front of him defensively. "N-no, that's- that's not-"

"Relax," Lebreau laughed, "I'm just giving you a hard time."

"Yeah, that and she's afraid you'll tell her the _truth_," Yuj teased, unable to stop the quiet "ow!" that escaped him when his target punched his arm. "Well, you won't let me take you shopping, and you've been sporting that look for yeeeeeea-"

"_I_ will dress my_self_, thank you," Lebreau said indignantly, rolling her eyes. She then turned her attention back to the two newcomers. "So, just woke up then?"

"I was up hours ago," Snow explained, then motioned to Hope. "Sleeping Beauty here woke up just before we got here." Snow chuckled upon seeing Hope's decidedly unamused expression.

"Oh, good. You two must be _starving_. Come on behind the counter and pick whatever you want, on the house."

"You sure that's a good idea, Lebreau?" Gadot asked, his tone one of warning. "Boss man here might clean out our entire stock."

"I'm a growing boy, Gadot, what can I say?" Snow punched the air in Gadot's direction, to which his long-time friend and surrogate brother responded by miming return punches. Lebreau's hand had gone to her hip as she shook her head.

"Whenever you two _meat_heads are _done_," she droned, ushering Hope behind the counter. She leaned in closer to him and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Better get your fill now before the behemoth with bird hair ransacks the place."

"I heard that!"

"You were _supposed_ to, stupid."

Hope was thoroughly enjoying the group's oftentimes childish, but quick-witted banter. He was glad he had gotten over his grudge against them a long time ago; they really were a good bunch, all hearts in the right place. "Thanks, Lebreau. I am pretty hungry."

"Sure thing. We all felt like our stomachs were being dissolved when we woke up here, so I figured it would be the same for you guys. Every few hours we get somebody new in here begging for the biggest combo platter we can offer," she explained. "Of course, we don't _sell_ combo platters, but that's definitely an idea if we end up getting an honest-to-goodness restaurant going here."

"Is that your plan?" Hope inquired.

"It would be stupid not to," Maqui chimed in, having wandered their way to grab a meal himself before the storm that was a hungry Snow Villiers hit and left no survivors. "Lebreau can make anything taste good."

"Even the simplest of recipes," the young woman stated proudly. "My most popular dish back home only had a couple of main ingredients. Maybe a few spices if I was feeling adventurous. Of course, you can't find those _exact_ ingredients here, but I'm pretty close to finding acceptable substitutes."

"Give us a copy of the old recipe and we'll keep an eye out," Hope promised, taking his now crowded plate towards the nearby table Maqui had plopped down at and was motioning for Hope to sit.

"Much appreciated! I'll get it for you later. For now, I need to break up these boys and get them fed." Lebreau turned back towards the storefront, where Gadot and Snow were still play-fighting. "Hey Yuj, better grab something before you're stuck with shelf rations!"

As Yuj clambered to the counter ahead of the two largest of his friends, Hope joined Maqui at the small bar-height table facing some windows looking out towards the sea. _Rockier than Bodhum, but… _Hope sighed to himself, everything around him seeming to fade as the waves crashed against the rocky cliffsides, hindering a flock of sea birds' attempts at an early dinner. The sun was growing ever closer to the watery horizon, and a sudden flash of rose made Hope stiffen until he saw it was only a little girl of about four or five years of age, pink pigtails tossed about by the strong ocean breeze, running towards who he assumed was her mother. He watched the interaction, feeling his body relax as his heart warmed, but frowning as a twinge of longing ached in his chest. An elbow gently nudging his arm caught his attention, and he was surprised to find Snow was the culprit, carrying two heaping plates in either hand. Lebreau had evidently been right about him cleaning out her stock.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, matching Hope's previous line of sight. Hope noticed that Gadot and Lebreau were arguing about something, temporarily distracting the rest of the group. As such, he decided against brushing it off as nothing. It _was _Snow, after all… if anybody could understand how he was feeling, it was him.

"It's just…" Hope started, swallowing the lump in his throat he only just then noticed, and sighed deeply. "Lightning would love it here."

Snow smiled with uncharacteristic wistfulness, shifting his gaze. "Yeah, Serah too. Serah _especially_." The two men remained there together and watched as the sun set, working slowly through their meals but, for the moment, focused less on the aches in their stomachs and more on those in their chests.

* * *

Lightning stirred as her eyes fluttered open, shooting upright when she recalled the incredibly realistic dream she'd had and taking a moment to recover from the subsequent lightheadedness. "Was that… real?" Straightening herself on the edge of the bed, Lightning tried to recall as much of the conversation as possible, but much of it escaped her at this point. After she could no longer hear Hope's voice – _guess he really was waking up_ – her dream had morphed into a twisted jumble of Vile Peaks, Edenhall, Valhalla, and Luxerion, her apparel changing with the landscape as quickly as it did when she willed new schema into existence. Only when she had appeared before a towering dark figure obscured by a teenaged Hope aglow with a blinding deistic light did her consciousness fight to the surface. The conversation with Hope had certainly felt more real than the rest, but the rest was no less vivid… just hazier upon awakening. The heavy feeling in her gut had escaped her dream intact.

She wondered if she would ever get over this guilt.

Lightning noticed her now clean clothes folded neatly on a chair, but refrained from getting them for the moment. She wanted to keep Hope's scent close in hopes it would bring the same comfort it always had, and maybe help to assuage some of the guilt raging inside of her. While it was indeed calming, it just wasn't the same as his physical presence. Sighing, she made her way to a modest closet situated next to the bathroom door, and smiled as the same scent on the bathrobe floated out of it as she opened the door. Curiously, she sifted through the many articles of clothing hanging from a bar that went deep beyond the door's parameters, letting her hand linger fondly on a familiar orange shawl collar. Passing it by, she eventually came to a section she was _sure_ wasn't meant for Hope. A white sleeveless shirt with a ruffled collar that continued down the line of buttonholes to just below the bust line. A delicate open cardigan sweater of the most beautiful blue hung beside it, clearly meant as a companion piece. A few more women's items hung next to them, but Lightning retrieved the shirt and sweater from their perch, trying to ignore the wave of anxiety that came over her. She stood in front of the mirror built into the back of the closet door and held the items up to her own body, surprised to find they looked like they would fit her almost perfectly. She debated trying them on, wondering if the clothing had belonged to a girlfriend, or maybe even a wife. She hadn't been able to see him during her crystal sleep, and he _was_ incredibly attractive in his adult years…

"What am I even thinking."

"Hopefully that you should try that on, Sis."

Serah had appeared in the doorway of the room, a gentle smile not quite reaching her eyes. Lightning scowled. _Either I'm losing my touch, or I am _really_ distracted._ "Don't sneak up on me like that," she muttered. "And I don't feel right doing that. It doesn't belong to me."

"Sure it does."

Lightning blinked at her sister, her eyebrow raised in question.

"What?" Serah shrugged. "You're not the only one who watched over our friends." She made quick work of taking the hangers from Lightning, laying each item out on the bed carefully. A pair of khaki-colored dress pants had been draped over the crossbar of the hanger obscured by the shirt, and Serah placed them alongside the other two items. As she had done so, Lightning had donned her underthings, as well as a beige camisole she found in her pile of clothes. Nora must have left it there by mistake, but Lightning surmised Nora had better attention to detail than that, especially with how carefully it was folded with everything else. As such, Lightning was able to dismiss most of the unease she felt for putting it on. Serah gave Lightning the pants first.

"This is weird," Lightning grumbled, even as the trousers fit like a glove, ending in a tasteful taper just above her ankle. She did feel a small measure of satisfaction in that as she inspected herself in the mirror.

"It was really cute when he bought them," Serah explained as she handed Lightning the shirt, ignoring her sister's protest. "At one point he held the sweater up to himself. Not like it helped him see if it would fit _you_, but I guess he realized that fairly quickly. That or he was getting weird looks."

Lightning grinned at the image. "Maybe I'll make him try it on when I see him next. It'll be huge on him."

"Or, maybe it'll be way too _small_."

Lightning paused, watching her fingers a little too closely as she finished buttoning the shirt. _Her_ shirt, that was kept in _Hope's_ closet. Serah held up the sweater to allow a suddenly much warmer Lightning to more easily slide her arms through the sleeves, then stepped back as the two admired the reflection. Serah cocked her head as she held a hand to her chin.

"Wow. I'm kind of impressed at how well Hope was able to guess your size."

"We _did_ spend a lot of time together," Lightning rationalized. "Fought together. It's important to know the size of your partner to gauge movement in battle."

"Yeah, yeah," Serah dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Because that's a _great_ outfit to fight in."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "I can fight in anything. Even that miniskirt and shorts the Guardian Corps thought was a better idea than pants."

"True," Serah conceded.

The two fell silent as Lightning continued to inspect her reflection. The outfit really _was_ rather nice. Classic, comfortable, modest, and flattering. She could tell the fabric was of high quality and wondered how much Hope had spent on it.

"You're going to wear it, right?"

"Not right now."

"Why not? You look amazing!"

"Nora put in the effort to clean my old uniform," Lightning pointed out. "I'd feel terrible if I didn't wear it now." It was the truth, but a significant part of her also felt bad wearing the outfit when Hope wasn't around to thank for it.

"Well, make sure you wear it the next time you see Hope," Serah insisted as her sister disrobed and carefully replaced each item on its hanger and back into the closet. "He'd be pleased to see it fits correctly."

"Yes, mother," Lightning droned, earning a playful smack on the arm from her younger sister. Once she was fully dressed and everything in Hope's room was replaced as it was, Serah pulled Lightning behind her.

"Come on, Sis! It's already noon and we've got a _lot_ to do before all the shops close for the day."

Lightning smiled in spite of herself. Shopping wasn't something she necessarily _enjoyed_ doing, especially since her sister was the type to meander in a store whereas she always went in with a mission, but she had to admit that spending a day with her sibling _completely_ devoid of conflict was more than enticing. She couldn't remember the last time they had been able to do so, and she was going to make the most of it.

[end ch. 4]

* * *

Back next Sunday with another chapter! :) I love feedback, so leave some if you're so inclined. I so appreciate the favs/follows/comments thus far! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5: Still

It's Sunday — which means DISTANT WORLDS TODAY IN CHICAGO! SKDHLKSJAHFLAKJHSFLAKJ Taking my 4-year-old with me and going early so we can check out The Bean (which, as many times as I've been up to Chi-town, I've never actually gone to see) and see if we can hit up Water Tower Place before the concert starts, because DAT MEZZANINE FOOD COURT.

But for you all, unless you're also going to the Distant Worlds concert in Chicago, it means the next chapter of this story is up! :) Definite Final Fantasy theme going on here.

For those who are just arriving, welcome! Please do take the time to catch up with the previous chapters. I don't know how, but they are steadily getting longer. Kind of curious to see the word count on chapter 6... BUT I digress.

As always, MANY thanks to the loveliest and promptest of betas, rainbowserenity. :D You all should thank her too, because she keeps me on my toes with getting these chapters out on time!

As far as the next chapter, I'm going to try and get it out a bit early, since I'll be at DragonCon next weekend (I'm a volunteer on the video gaming track so come see our panels so we can keep bringing you even better content in the years to come OKAY). If you're out there, as I imagine many of you will be, and you see me, PLEASE SAY HI! My name is Karissa and that is me in my profile picture, so just yell it and I should start looking around like a crazy person.

Without further ado, here's where we left our lovelies:

"Come on, Sis! It's already noon and we've got a _lot_ to do before all the shops close for the day." Lightning smiled in spite of herself. Shopping wasn't something she necessarily _enjoyed_ doing, especially since her sister was the type to meander in a store whereas she always went in with a mission, but she had to admit that spending a day with her sibling _completely_ devoid of conflict was more than enticing. She couldn't remember the last time they had been able to do so, and she was going to make the most of it.

* * *

**Chapter V: Still**

"What a cool town! Smile, Sis!"

If not for the fact that she had vowed to make the most of this new start with her sister, Lightning would have scowled as Serah snapped yet another picture of her with her new smartphone. The Estheims had insisted they both have their own, despite the sisters' awkward protest.

_"__You two need ways to communicate. Here, this is the best way," Bartholomew explained. Lightning looked blankly between the simple, refurbished flip phone in her hand and the two brand new smartphones on the register counter in front of the older man. Nora was at a small display near the counter, telling Serah to pick out a case for her phone. "It has a lot of space for pictures and video, too, and you can do video calls back and forth without an Internet signal. There's just as much use for it as frivolity."_

Lightning was left wondering just how _much_ space it had. It felt like Serah had taken enough pictures in the last five minutes to make the damn thing explode. _Twice_.

As they reached the Estheims' car, Bartholomew popped the trunk to allow the two sisters to drop off the bags containing all their cell phone stuff, which joined several other bags with clothing, shoes, and other miscellaneous items.

"You guys really, _really_ shouldn't have gotten us all this stuff," Lightning murmured for what must have been the twentieth time.

"You girls need stuff, and we're able and willing," Nora replied insistently for as many times. "You both should have your own bank accounts somewhere, but until we figure out where, we've got you covered."

Lightning remembered the many signs of affluence in the Palumpolum Estheim residence and, while she still wasn't comfortable with Hope's parents spending so much money on them, she at least felt marginally better that it wasn't putting them out financially. Her discomfort must have shown in her expression, because Nora's hand was on her arm and the same intense expression she'd seen earlier that morning had returned.

"Trust me, Lightning. This is the least we can do after everything you've done for this family. Not to mention the entire world."

"If it makes you feel any better," Bartholomew added, his voice muffled as he spoke from inside the trunk, "you two got discounts just about everywhere we went."

Lightning looked to Serah, who shrugged and snapped a picture of the large cathedral towering above the town rooftops. It wasn't surrounded by scaffolding like the one they had passed in Alsace on their way here, which made it infinitely more impressive.

"Well… I'm still going to make it up to you," she vowed.

Bartholomew laughed. "As strong-willed as you were fighting PSICOM in my living room." He finished arranging the bags in the trunk, reaching to close it. "How about you make it up to us by letting us do this and not mentioning another thing about owing us? Because you don't, and it's about time you had someone taking care of _you_."

Lightning frowned.

"Sis, it makes them happy." Serah had leaned in closer so her sister could hear her whisper. Lightning sighed, then nodded.

"Okay, Bartholomew, you win. Thank you for this."

Bartholomew nodded, smiling at his beaming wife, and pulled the trunk shut. Only to have it pop right back open. "Hm. That's strange." He reached back in the cargo area, adjusted the bags again, and brought the trunk lid down sharply – to no avail. "Huh. The latch must be busted."

Serah had brightened considerably. "Good thing we know a good mechanic nearby!"

Nora mirrored Serah's enthusiasm. "I'll stay here with the car. You all go on ahead and get him."

"We can just call him" Serah suggested. "I took down the number earlier."

"Good excuse for you to use your new phone for something other than taking a picture of everything you see," Lightning teased, earning a scowl from her sister, who was already transferring the number from a scrap of paper to her phone.

"Better let me talk him through our location," Bartholomew suggested, to which Serah readily agreed and handed him the phone. "Don't worry. I won't tell him you're both here."

"Good idea," Serah grinned.

"Here's hoping we don't give him a heart attack when he shows up."

Within the half hour, they were met with wide eyes, a slack jaw, and a surprisingly chick-free hairstyle.

"Hey, Sazh," Lightning greeted warmly.

"I _can't_ believe it," Sazh laughed, gladly accepting the hug Serah gave him.

"Excellent response time," Lightning quipped. "Much faster than I'm used to from you, old man."

"Hah, hah. High and mighty Savior kills a malevolent god and suddenly she's got a sense of humor."

"I think I'm entitled to let loose a little, yeah." Lightning awkwardly accepted the hug Sazh offered her. She might have been whole again, but hugs had never been her forte, unless with Serah or Hope.

By that point, Dajh had climbed out of the service truck and was hugging Serah around her middle.

"I'm happy to see you too, Dajh," she laughed, returning the boy's affection.

"Are you gonna be my teacher here too, Serah?" Dajh inquired excitedly. "I have one now at school, and she's okay, I guess, but you were always more fun."

"I don't see why I couldn't keep teaching here, but I have some things I need to do before that happens," Serah explained. Dajh nodded in response.

"I know, you've gotta find Mr. Snow so you guys can get married and have a whole bunch'a kids," the boy recited, as if from memory. Lightning was vaguely curious as to how Dajh was privy to all that, but he was always an intuitive kid, even in his innocence. She was grateful his harrowing experiences, including his part in the final strike against Bhunivelze, hadn't robbed him of his childhood.

"That's right," Serah nodded, grinning sheepishly. "I see you haven't forgotten Snow's day substituting for me in class."

So that was how. Well… he was still an intuitive kid.

"I haven't forgotten either," Sazh grumbled. "Remind me to punch him for that day's _lesson_."

Serah laughed weakly, clearly apologetic. Lightning would have to ask later what exactly Snow talked about in her class that day, even though her gut told her she was probably better off not knowing. Judging by Sazh's reaction, she was fairly sure _Snow_ was better off with her not knowing, too.

Sazh greeted Bartholomew warmly, shaking the man's hand with a firm grip. "Director," he nodded, clapping the man's shoulder with his free hand.

Bartholomew groaned good-naturedly. "Come on, Sazh, that's Hope's title. Not mine."

"It was yours first," Sazh countered, "so you get to keep it for life as far as I'm concerned."

Bartholomew chuckled and motioned to his wife. "You've not met my Nora," he said as she appeared at his side, hand extended to Sazh.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Mr. Katzroy," she said warmly.

"Mr. Katzroy is my father. Or Dajh when he thinks he knows everything. Call me Sazh." He shook Nora's hand with both of his own. "It's great to finally meet the other half behind the legend that is Hope Estheim."

"The better half, really," Bartholomew admitted.

"Oh, stop," Nora admonished, "you were always just as important. More so after I was gone."

"Speaking of humanity's old benefactor, where is the kid?"

Lightning was the first to answer. "We haven't found him yet." She almost mentioned having spoken with him, but she decided against it at the last minute. She hadn't even been able to talk to Hope's parents about it yet, after all.

"Haven't found Snow or anybody else either," Serah added.

"That's a shame," Sazh sighed, disappointment clouding his features. "I'm sure they'll turn up in no time, though."

"We're going to go find them," Lightning asserted. "Just as soon as we figure out where to look," she continued, trying and failing to completely conceal the doubt she felt.

"Welp, I'm sure you'll need this car all fixed up before you're on your way, so why don't we get this all sorted out?" Sazh bent down to look at the inside of the hatch lid. "Hey son, bring me the pen light and a flathead."

"You got it, Dad," Dajh said cheerfully, returning to the truck and producing the items in less than a minute. Sazh tinkered around with the inside of the lid, humming to himself here and there.

"The spring that holds the latch closed is missing," Sazh explained after a few minutes. "No problem. Just need the part and I'll have you all on your way again."

"Thank you, Sazh," Nora said.

"Hey, anything for old friends! I'm even doing this one on the house. Business has been good, though I think that's partially because ol' Chocolina works the front desk."

"As a chocobo chick or in her _human_ form?" Lightning asked suspiciously.

"Chocolina… the bird lady with the store everywhere Noel and I went?" Serah was incredulous. "She's your _chocobo chick?_"

"Yup. Everybody thinks it's a clever uniform for the business, and Dajh and I are in no hurry to reveal her secret," Sazh grinned. "Speaking of, Dajh, I need a latch spring. Can you go grab one for me?"

"Yep," Dajh replied, rushing off to a nearby store.

"Where is he going?" Serah wondered.

"He's going to get the part I need. I don't know how he does it, but he always knows where to find whatever I need. Even rare parts. And I don't even have to tell him where to look," Sazh explained proudly. "Could be another reason why business is so good. We can get everything done quickly and at a lower cost since Dajh finds everything so easily. He's like my little good luck charm."

"That _is_ lucky," Lightning remarked, looking curiously in the direction Dajh had disappeared to, remembering how the young boy had been able to find anything Pulse-related when he was a Sanctum l'Cie. Minutes later, Dajh was returning with the part in hand.

"Found it, Dad!"

"Good work, son." Sazh took the part as Dajh offered it and ruffled his 'fro, chuckling in response to Dajh's protests about 'messing up the 'do.' "Now we'll get this fixed up and get you all on your way home."

It didn't take Sazh long to finish the repairs, and after a few hours catching up at a nearby café and a promise to visit often once Lightning and Serah had found everybody, the tired group said their goodbyes and headed back home. They knew this might be their last day to fully relax for a while, and Lightning and the Estheims had no trouble going right to sleep.

Serah, however, had been lying awake for quite a while after the house had gone completely quiet. She had tiptoed down the stairs earlier to grab a couple geography and history books to study. After all, if she was going to be a teacher again, she needed to know as much as possible about the new world. There was just _so_ much to learn.

"I wonder if I'll ever get caught up enough," she muttered to herself, rubbing the blurriness out of her eyes. "I really don't know what else I'd do here…"

Serah remembered her short tutorial on web searches using her phone and pulled it out of the drawer of the night stand. Opening the web browser, she first typed in her own name. _Maybe Snow is looking for me the same way Hope's parents are looking for him,_ she reasoned. She was disappointed, however, to find no relevant result. She was further disappointed to find no results for anyone else's name she searched for – not even Sazh's business. Not even _Bhunivelze_ brought anything up. Turning off the phone and tossing it back into the drawer, she sank back into her pillow with an exasperated sigh with her arm flung over her eyes, which were beginning to sting. She was no stranger to losing all hope, but she didn't think she'd have to deal with that same type of feeling _here_. At least, not so soon after arriving.

Squeezing her eyes in an effort to detain the tears that were threatening to fall, Serah turned onto her side, hugging her pillow tightly as just one managed to escape. She wouldn't fall apart tomorrow, but for now, she let herself give into the frustration and pain of once again being separated from her beloved Snow. By the time she drifted off, her pillow was rather damp.

* * *

Hope ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. Snow had been pacing behind him for the last twenty minutes. "That's not going to make me go any faster, you know."

"The signal sucks out here," Snow growled.

"It's less the internet signal and more the fact that we have no idea of where to look," Hope explained, _again_. "Searching for my parents' names brought up nothing. It's as if any hard print has been deliberately left off of the internet."

This was the bigger source of Hope's current frustration. After they'd all finished eating, Maqui had taken Hope and Snow to the second floor of the store, which housed a number of bedrooms and three full bathrooms, each flanked by a bedroom on either side in a jack-and-jill-style layout. Maqui had told them they sometimes rented the extra rooms out to travelers, but for the most part, this served as their home. When Hope had asked if there was anywhere they could find some information about his parents and the Farron sisters, the now more confident tech head set up a computer in what looked to be a large common area and kitchen for the floor. Hope had casually mentioned that the setup reminded him of his university days at the Academy as he set himself to the task of researching Lightning and the others. He was sure that he would have found something on the internet about their whereabouts if his parents had taken out an ad in their paper looking for him, but it turned out to be a dead end.

"Maybe it's a smaller town and they don't have a digital version of their newspaper," Lebreau suggested. "This town doesn't have one either, but the next town over does, as do the big cities like Paris."

"Let's just hop on a train and go look for them, Hope!" Snow exclaimed as Hope rolled his eyes in response to his friend's signature impetuousness.

"Right. And which train, exactly, do you propose we –hop- on of the several that leave daily from the city?"

Yuj had explained over dinner that the town in which they all found themselves was called Brittany, located on the Northwestern coast of France. It was indeed beautiful, and only a little bit out of the way. Paris, the country's capitol city, was only a two-hour train ride from their current location, and the group had been debating (or, rather, Snow had been insisting) on going there to see if the smaller town papers were in one of the national libraries. Hope had to admit it held slightly more promise than staying here and running fruitless web searches until his eyes bled, but _only_ slightly.

"The one that goes to Paris most directly, obviously," Snow continued. "Those big cities always have some sort of archive, and I have a feeling we'll find something there about everybody else."

"You're not going anywhere tonight, I'm afraid," Maqui interjected. "The last train left about an hour ago."

"Then we'll go tomorrow!"

"Snow, you know I share your enthusiasm," Hope sighed, pinching the bridge of his crinkled nose, "but I do _not _share your willingness to head out of town without some sort of plan. Rushing off has never ended well for any of us."

"That's true. But it always worked out in the end, so let's just go!"

"Like Maqui said, nobody's going anywhere tonight," Gadot echoed, his massive arms crossed over his chest.

"How about this," Yuj suggested, "we all get plenty of rest tonight, then tomorrow Lebreau and I take you two to town and stock up on the essentials? Gadot and Maqui can run the store in the meantime." Yuj paused at the sound of Maqui's complaints of _you guys always leave me behind to run the store!_ and Lebreau's _it's not like we can trust _Gadot_ to run it, _and continued before Gadot could weigh in. "Snow, at least, has an account at the bank in town."

"I do? How much is in it?"

"No idea. Gadot said he was your brother so we could find out, but all they told us was that you had an account there."

"Nice, _bro_," Snow said approvingly, fist-bumping his large friend.

"Obviously we couldn't check for you, Hope," Lebreau explained. "Most people remember what you looked like back home, which is like none of us."

"Wait – people don't remember their Patron? After everything I did for them?" Snow really didn't sound all that offended.

"To be fair, you didn't build a planet."

"Anyway," Hope interrupted loudly, not wanting to think about anything to do with the Ark or Bhunivelze, "let's just get settled here for the night and we'll figure everything out in the morning." And with that, the group dispersed once Hope and Snow had been shown to their rooms.

Once behind closed doors, Snow allowed himself a moment of weakness and punched the painted brick wall as hard as he could.

"Shit," he muttered in the aftermath. Something had popped, and judging by the bruising and swelling already burgeoning on the knuckles and back of his hand, he was sure he had broken something. Cradling his hand, he left his room and went to knock on Hope's door. He stopped short, though, not wanting to bother him with the evidence of his usual recklessness. He knew Hope was just as frustrated as he was; he just had more self-control. Lips pursed, Snow opted instead to knock on the door leading to the room Yuj and Maqui were temporarily sharing, as Snow had been given the former's usual place to sleep.

"Dude, get some sle… oh." Yuj stopped mid-scold when he saw Snow's hand, which was now completely black and blue and at least twice the size it should have been. "What the hell did you do?"

"The wall looked at me funny," Snow quipped, letting his jovial nature mask how tortured he really felt. "Brick, one, me, one-half."

"One-half my ass, the brick owned you," Maqui swore, taking Snow's hand and gingerly examining it.

"Tell that to the paint I chipped off," Snow celebrated, hissing when Maqui turned his hand obliquely.

"Could you _not _destroy my room while you're in there? The paint job took an entire day," Yuj groaned.

"I promise I won't mess it up anymore. No promises as far as farting in your bed, though."

The blue-haired young man wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Good gods. I'll just… go get some ice." And with that, Yuj left for the common room.

"Classy, Snow," Maqui droned, and Snow could've sworn he squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"Whoa, ease up there, killer," Snow grimaced, pulling his hand away from the blonde. "It's broken enough as it is, man."

"Don't mess with 'the sanctity' of Yuj's bed, then," the younger blonde demanded, mixing in a bit of mockery at Yuj's expense. "I like having my own space and there's no way he'll go back in there for, like, a week at least if you do anything."

"Relax, I was kidding."

"Yeah, but we've all had to endure your bodily functions while you were sleeping," Yuj muttered as he walked back into the room with an elastic bandage and an ice pack, handing the supplies to Maqui. "Your gas is no joke."

"Better in than out, I say."

"Just not in my damn sheets."

"Anyway," Maqui interrupted, wrapping Snow's hand with the elongated gel ice pack, "why did you _really_ feel the need to get into a boxing match with a brick wall, snow? You're not going to be able to travel much until this heals."

"Of course I will. I'll just make Hope carry all the bags."

"While I'm sure he probably can, I'm also sure he'll just make you do it. He's not going to encourage your… spontaneity… in any way," Yuj cut in.

"Probably right," Snow shrugged, "especially since I carried him unconscious on my back for at least a mile, and up a ladder, with broken ribs."

"…One of these days, you're going to get yourself killed. You know that, right?" Maqui had almost finished wrapping Snow's hand. He gave the tail end of the bandage a final tug to set the wrap, then fastened the end to the rest of the bandage. "Not too tight?"

"It's great, Maqui, thanks," Snow said gratefully, flexing his wrist to test the stability of the set. "And don't worry, I won't die. Lightning would kill me for leaving her sister alone, and then Serah would bring me back to life just to do it again herself."

"Got that right," Yuj chimed. "You didn't see her get mad while you were off looking for Lightning." He handed Snow a couple of pills and a glass of water. "Take these. They'll help with the pain and swelling." Snow nodded his thanks and downed the pills and water, then stood to leave them be.

"Hold up, Snow," Maqui stalled, "You never answered my question."

"Which one?"

"Why did you really punch the wall?" His concern was evident.

Snow blinked in an effort to maintain his composure, but did concede breaking eye contact to study his feet. "I just… I miss my wife."

"Future wife," Maqui corrected, smiling. "As in there _is_ a future now. She'll turn up, Snow, or we'll find her first."

"I know." Snow looked back to the hallway and held up his bandaged hand. "Thanks again, guys."

"No problem. And really, don't fart in my bed!"

Snow chuckled despite feeling like the world was collapsing in on him. It was unlike he felt after Serah had died on in its intensity; this time, he knew she was alive. He just had no idea, in this huge world, where to find her. At least she was with Sis. She wouldn't let anything happen to her until he could get to them. Walking back into his room and flopping onto the bed, he positioned his injured hand atop his chest and the good arm over his eyes. Might as well try and get at least a _little _sleep.

* * *

_Snow!_

"Serah?" Snow opened his eyes and looked around him. There was nothing but mist. He quickly realized this must have been what Hope was talking about with the "dream state" thing, except there was a faint, pale pink light coming from who knows where painting the mist around him. It felt surprisingly warm. "Serah, where are you?"

_I'm not sure_, she replied. Just as it had been with Hope, he could hear Serah's voice surrounding him, but it was more inside his head than anything.

"Are you inside a pink cloud?"

_There's mist, all right,_ Serah's voice giggled, _but it's more blue than pink. This must be what Sis was describing from when she talked to Hope!_ She sounded equal parts thrilled and concerned.

"Yeah, he told me about that, too."

_Wait, you know where Hope is? We're with his parents!_

"I know, and I'm glad. Hope woke up a stone's throw from me here in… wow. He wasn't kidding when he said you won't know where you are in these things." Snow rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Guess I can't make fun of Sis after all."

_She told me about that. I couldn't tell you where we are, even though I've read at least six books about it already._

Snow smiled affectionately. "That's my little bookworm." The air around him grew suddenly warmer.

_Listen, Snow,_ Serah said urgently. _Sis said her dream ended rather abruptly, before she could tell Hope what she _did_ remember about where we are. And now, I have more information. We saw Sazh today, too._ Snow listened intently as Serah described their surroundings. He noted with disappointment that the only body of water she mentioned was a river running through the town Sazh lived in.

"Countryside, hills, a tree at the top of a hill near Hope's folks' place, a bigger town about 45 minutes north of where you are, a river running through that town, big cathedral under renovation in the town you're in," he echoed, remembering how Hope had more easily remembered his words than Lightning's. "Got it. Hope might be able to do something with that information." Snow felt his vigor returning as he relayed what he knew about his own location. "We're supposed to be going to some big city to find out what we can about where you are. Of course, other than knowing it's really big and important and should have somewhere we can find what we need, I'm clueless as to how to explain it. As far as where we are _now_, we're by the ocean, and Lebreau said it's a couple hours by train to get there? Something like that."

_Lebreau's there too?_

"Yeah, the whole NORA gang runs a general store here."

_What a relief! Four less people to find. I can work with what you told me, too. We should be back together in no time._ The mist surrounding Snow grew warmer once more. He closed his eyes and almost felt Serah's arms envelop him.

"Can't wait. I wish I'd woken up next to you."

_Soon._

Silence followed for some time.

"Hey, Serah?"

_Hm?_

"I love you." He felt her smile.

_Love you too, hero._

"I broke my hand on a brick wall tonight."

_You WHAT?_

[end ch. 5]

* * *

And there you go! Hope you're enjoying everything so far! If so, let me know! If not, let me know why. Without, y'know, being a dick about it, because nobody likes that.

Keep the reviews/favorites/follows coming! I SO appreciate them - every single one of them makes my day and motivates me to be better and better. I know how difficult it can be to stick with a story before the real meat and potatoes starts to hit, so I appreciate those who are doing so now even more. Special thanks to MidnightFenrir for the extra feedback this past week. :D (I may need some extra feedback for you for the next chapter - it's got some French in it and I don't really speak the language. Apologies in advance if I muck it up!)


	6. Chapter 6: In Between Days

This is late and I'm _so_ sorry! DragonCon followed by the wireless card in my laptop breaking and having to wait for a USB dongle followed by a nasty case of the stomach flu kept me down for longer than expected. As such, here's chapter 6 now, and I'll have chapter 7 up on Sunday. I've still been working on later chapters while I've been out of commission, so the story's still moving along! :)

Thank you so much for all the reviews/favorites/follows! There was one guest review that disappeared (because I'm a dumbass and had the settings wonky for guest reviews), but I *did* see it and no worries - I'm seeing this one through to the end. Helps that I already have it all outlined! ;) Anyway, let me shut up so you can read. Don't have any more trips coming up, so should be able to stay pretty much on schedule from now on with new chapters coming out every Sunday.

* * *

**Chapter VI: In Between Days**

Lightning awoke to Serah jumping onto her bed. "I have good news!"

"That this is a dream and you're not _really_ waking me up at…" Lightning glanced at her phone on the nightstand. "Six in the morning?"

"I had one of those dreams like you had and got to talk to Snow and he said Hope is with him and so are Gadot and the others and I was able to tell him about where we are and-"

"Serah. _Slow. Down_." Lightning rubbed her eyes. The words were tumbling out of her mouth far too quickly for this early in the morning.

"Sorry, sorry," Serah apologized. "I talked to Snow last night in a dream. It was just like you said with Hope, including that we couldn't remember the names of any towns." Serah poked at her phone as she spoke. "But we also could describe our surroundings. They're near the ocean, and he said they're going to some big important city to try and find some information about where we are. I told him about the renovations on the cathedral in Alsace."

Lightning was completely awake now. Hope was with Snow, and they were looking for them. She shot out of bed as Serah continued relaying what Snow had told her. She dressed quickly, plopped down at Hope's desk, and switched on his laptop, opening the web browser as soon as it had finished booting. "Big important city, big important city…"

"We don't really know if they're in the same country, though," Serah said doubtfully.

"They're here," Lightning asserted.

"And you know this, how?"

"I just know."

Serah sighed. "I hope you're right." Between the two of them, they had managed to research the largest cities in France. "Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Nantes… hey, Strasbourg!"

"Okay, now to narrow it down to whatever city they'd be able to find information on smaller towns."

"Has to be Paris. Capitol city, huge, important. It fits the bill."

"Okay, now a couple hours by train, near the ocean…" Lightning's fingers flew over the keys as fast as her namesake as she narrowed the search.

"There, Sis." Serah pointed to the map of train routes Lightning had pulled up at an area on the Northwestern coast of the country. "Right there."

"Hm. Rennes… that's one of the bigger cities, though. Didn't you say Snow said they were in a smaller city?"

"Hm…" Serah traced along the map with her finger, and then tapped on the screen. "Here. Brittany. It's right on the coast, so he'd be right on the water just like he said."

Lightning pulled up an image search on the town of Brittany, and sure enough, the terrain matched Snow's description perfectly. "Yep. I'd bet money on it." Lightning took note of the train schedule while Serah ran out of the room. She returned moments later with the Estheims in tow.

"Serah tells us you found Hope?" Nora said, her voice laced both with optimism and worry. "How on earth did you manage that so quickly?"

Lightning and Serah explained their dreams to the Estheims, who both listened to every word and believed without question. They readily agreed with the conclusion the sisters had reached as to Hope's whereabouts.

"Let's get you girls some breakfast then," Bartholomew said, nodding as Nora nearly danced out of the room to get started on it, "and we'll run you straight to Strasbourg to catch the ten o'clock train. It's a straight six-hour shot to Paris from there, but you'll need to spend the night at a Parisian hotel. In the morning, catch the first train out to Rennes. From there, rent a car or hail a cab that will take you straight to Brittany."

"Yes! I'm gonna go pack," Serah squeaked excitedly as she tore out of the room.

"I think we'll probably be stuck with the cab option, since neither of us can drive," Lightning grinned.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Bartholomew countered. "We had a car in our garage when we woke up, and both of us knew intuitively how to operate it." Sensing Lightning's unease, he continued, "But I'll give you both a test run on the way to Strasbourg today."

"That would be great, Bartholomew. Thanks." Lightning smiled and nodded as she fished a notepad and pen out of one of the desk drawers and began copying down the information for the upcoming trip. Bartholomew helped her book a hotel in Paris online and pointed out the best train routes to take, Lightning scribbling furiously all the while.

"Why not just put all of that in your phone?" he asked. "There's a notepad function that I've found rather useful."

"Oh, I plan to do that," Lightning replied, "but I'd like to have a backup copy just in case."

"That's smart," Bartholomew said approvingly, clapping a hand on Lightning's shoulder. "Do me a favor and make us a copy as well, so we'll know where you and Serah will be in case anything were to happen."

"You're not coming with us?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't think so," he laughed. "We'll only slow you girls down."

"I doubt that," Lightning said earnestly.

"We also have commitments here that would keep us from leaving until the weekend," the man continued, "and if Hope makes it back here before you two return, he'll need someone here to greet him. In the meantime, we trust you two to find him and bring him home to us."

"That's the plan."

"I'd expect no less." Bartholomew went to Hope's closet and grabbed a cognac leather suitcase off a high shelf and placed it on the bed. He also took the several articles of women's clothing off their hangers and laid them out carefully next to the luggage. Lightning glanced back in surprise once she took notice of it. "These were meant for you," he explained after seeing her expression. "I know he'll be pleased to see you wearing the clothes he bought you."

"Bartholomew, I-"

"-Will give him due thanks and turn heads wherever you go, and yes, we would still have gotten you all those clothes yesterday, because if there's one thing being married has taught me, it's that a lady needs variety in her wardrobe."

Lightning laughed in spite of herself. "Yes, sir. Consider my protest dropped, though it wasn't along those lines."

"And no, it's not strange or wrong or anything else undesirable to wear clothes that were purchased for you by my son in your absence."

Lightning said nothing.

"You're easier to read than you might think." Bartholomew smiled reassuringly before getting the last couple of items out of the closet. Once finished, he looked around for a moment. "Ah. Maybe bring this to him, too," he added, taking Hope's Airwing from its display and placing it on the bed next to everything else. "I think he'll want it with him. Always did love that boomerang." With that, he left the room to help his wife with breakfast.

Lightning took a quick look at her phone. _06:45_, the display read. Only a few short hours before they needed to leave for Strasbourg, and she didn't want to delay any further. Nora stepped in for a moment to leave a basket full of her now freshly laundered and folded clothing purchases from the day prior. Having finished her note-taking, Lightning pulled out a pair of dark denim crops, a pale yellow sleeveless top, and a cream-colored duster cardigan to pack in a small overnight satchel, and laid out a pair of dark blue linen shorts and long-sleeved pale green blouse for today's trip. She carefully packed everything else away in the suitcase, including the Airwing. Once satisfied she had everything, Lightning went to see if the Estheims needed any help. She glanced into Serah's room on her way there and shook her head as Serah sat on the lid of her purple rolling suitcase in her efforts to close it. _She always packs too much,_ she mused. _No way is she wrangling me into lugging that thing around._

* * *

"Hope! Kid! Come on, man, open the door before I bust it down."

Hope growled and turned his face into his pillow. Snow made for a horrible alarm clock. He knew his friend was eager to get going, but that didn't change the fact that, one, it was _very_ early judging by the rather dim light coming through the window, and two, their "plan" was still precarious at best and they needed more time to...well, plan. "Go away. Come back at a decent hour."

"I talked to Serah!"

Hope was much more alert then. He sprang out of bed, taking Lightning's knife from the nightstand and replacing it in his jacket pocket, and then went to the door to unlatch it. He was nearly knocked over by the force with which Snow barged in. "Well? What did she say?"

"Enough to help us figure out where they are." Snow recounted every last detail, save the more intimate elements he only alluded to, as Hope jotted everything down in a small notebook he retrieved from one of his uniform pouches. Once Snow had finished, he left his room with Snow in tow and headed straight for the computer in the common room. Maqui had thankfully left it hooked up, though Hope was confident he could have done it himself with ease.

"Let's see…" Hope set off on a complex search using the parameters Serah had given Snow, and within the half hour, the two had narrowed it down to three different cities when Yuj and Maqui walked in.

"Morning," the latter greeted cheerfully. Yuj, in contrast, grunted his hello. He looked as if he hadn't slept much at all.

"Good morning, Maqui, Yuj," Hope responded in kind, only looking away from the screen briefly to do so. He was currently looking through a long list of cathedrals in the countryside to see which one (hopefully _only_ one) was going through a renovation. As such, he missed the two newcomers eyeing Snow's hand warily.

"Took it off when I woke up," Snow explained, since he had not missed the looks. "Almost as good as new!"

"I don't care about that right now," Yuj muttered. "Just tell me you didn't fart in my bed."

"A gentleman never tells."

"God_damnit_, Snow…"

"That's really weird, though," Maqui interjected. "It was definitely broken."

That caught Hope's attention. "What was broken?"

"His hand," Maqui answered, old uncertainty clouding his tone. "We wrapped and iced it last night, but that was it."

"You broke your _hand,_ Snow? What the hell?" Hope shook his head incredulously. _And he wonders why I won't just rush off with him…_

"Just be glad I didn't wake _you_ up to fix it," Snow shrugged. "Anyway, it seems to be all healed up now, so it's fine."

"If you broke a bone, or even snapped a tendon, it should take weeks to heal."

"Maybe we got lucky and ol' Bhuni decided to make us all quick-healing super humans."

"Doubt it," Yuj cut in. "Why make us heal so quickly when he could have just set it up to where we wouldn't get hurt at all?"

"Let's just worry about it later," Hope said as he turned back to his search. "We have more important things to do at the moment. Maqui, Yuj, you're more familiar with the country's geography than we are. Can you help us narrow this down?"

"What are you trying to find?" Maqui asked, peering over Hope's shoulder. Snow again repeated what he and Serah had discussed during the night. Yuj mentioned that Lebreau would be better help since she had traveled around a bit trying to find replacement ingredients for her old recipes and left the room to get her. He returned quickly with the uncharacteristically disheveled woman in tow. Gadot wasn't far behind.

"Why. Am I up. So early." It was more statement than question, with an edge of this-damn-well-better-be-good-or-I'll-make-you-regret-it mixed in. Eager not to disappoint, all four men hastily explained the situation. She scanned the options Hope had pulled up on the computer. "Well, the countryside tends to be pretty flat on this side of Paris. If they've got lots of hills and mountains where they are, you can knock out this town up here, which leaves these two…" Lebreau squinted at the screen. "Here they'd be too far from the mountains to see them as clearly as Serah said, so that leaves-"

"Alsace," Hope finished triumphantly.

"How far is that from here?" Snow was nearly bouncing with anticipation.

"Well, you've got the couple of hours to Paris from Rennes, and we have to go up there anyway to get all the crap you boys need," Lebreau detailed as Hope pulled up a train schedule. "You'll probably want to stop for the night in Paris, because one, _Paris_, and two, the trip to Strasbourg takes six hours. Then there's the forty-five-minute drive to the middle of town in Alsace. By the time you guys got there, assuming you don't miss your connection, it'd be the middle of the night and you don't even know where the girls are."

"As much as I want to see my parents - " _and Light - _"I'm not looking forward to finding my way around a strange town in the dark with no open businesses to ask for directions," Hope added.

"Fine, whatever, let's just stop sitting around!" And with that, Snow was gone, followed by a pregnant silence.

"I'm going to shower first," Hope announced awkwardly.

"Go ahead," Gadot offered. "It'll take Lebreau a bit to finish the deli prep before she and Yuj leave with you guys, and there's the matter of breakfast. You've got plenty of time."

"And you stink," Maqui poked.

"Sure that's not the peach fuzz on your lip you're smelling?" Hope shot back, smirking. He sauntered out of the room, unable to stop the triumphant grin on his face as he heard the others gibing the young man for letting Hope one-up him. He felt a little childish, both for participating and for feeling a bit disappointed that he hadn't come up with something better, but the NORA gang never teased anybody they hadn't accepted into their fold, so the warmth he felt mostly blocked that out.

Hope opened the door to his room and carefully laid out his uniform before removing the old shorts and undershirt Yuj had lent him. He was looking forward to a nice, long, hot shower, but the eagerness he felt for finally being reunited with the three people he cared about the most made the five minutes in the water seem like an eternity.

* * *

"Okay… got some extra clothes, baggage, hygiene products, some snacks and travel essentials for the ride over, access to Snow's account… that should be good until you get to your parents' place, yeah?" Yuj had brought an unnecessarily long list on their shopping trip that Hope had repeatedly insisted he whittle down to less than half its contents. They had managed to check everything off less than an hour after arriving in Rennes, including changing out of the clothes they'd worn for the past day and a half into more comfortable ensembles. Hope had chosen a medium green button-down shirt, distressed dark wash jeans, and a slate-gray casual light jacket. He had found the lattermost article on a clearance rack and had been pleased to find it had zipped pockets in the lining. Yuj had complained about how plain it was, but considering Hope hadn't picked up a single item for himself besides that jacket, and had turned down almost everything else he and Lebreau had picked out, he'd let it slide. Snow had chosen a pair of dark wash jeans, a pale blue t-shirt, and Yuj insisted upon completing the look with an off-black sport coat. He had told Hope in confidence that as soon as they were out of sight, he was stuffing the jacket in a bag until it got chilly.

"Hurry up!" Yuj yelled over his shoulder. Snow and Hope had said their goodbyes and thank-yous to Maqui and Gadot before leaving Brittany, and now that the group was on a dash to the train station, it was nearly time to do the same for Yuj and Lebreau.

"It's this way," Lebreau called over her shoulder as she rushed ahead to the ticket counter. They were cutting it close as it was, and she wanted to make sure they didn't end up having to wait an hour and a half for the next run. Hope and Snow jogged to catch up with Yuj, who was just ahead of them, and the three joined Lebreau at the counter just as she finished paying for the tickets.

"I could have paid for it, Lebreau," Snow argued, but she would have none of it.

"Oh, stop. Just find me the ingredients I need so I can open my restaurant and we're even." She hugged each of them quickly in turn after Yuj had shaken Hope's hand and wrestled out of Snow's headlock. "Now you two be safe, and Snow, you behave," she lectured, pointing accusingly at her old friend. "Call as soon as you get to your hotel in Paris."

"Yes, Mom," Snow droned, earning a smack on the arm, "but only because you didn't let me pay for anything."

"Buy me some fancy kitchen gadget I'll never, ever use while you're in Paris," Lebreau suggested, "and I might let the mom comment slide."

"The platform is down the stairs and across the way. You'd better hurry. They're going to start boarding any minute." Yuj was glancing warily at the clock above the ticket counter as he spoke.

"Thanks for everything, Yuj, Lebreau," Hope said earnestly. "You've been a big help."

"Hey, anything for our own," Yuj shrugged. "Bring Serah back with you, would ya? The store needs a woman's touch."

Snow roared with laughter as he and Hope rushed off to the platform, leaving Yuj to face Lebreau's wrath alone.

"Two-thirty train to Paris, now boarding at platform A-three," a voice called over the intercom. Hope set off at a jog.

"That's us," he called over his shoulder. The two ran to their platform, reaching it with only minutes to spare, and settled in opposing bench seats in an observation car surrounded by large, panoramic windows. Almost immediately after they stowed their luggage on a rack above their heads, the train lurched off toward its destination.

"Whew! Just in time," Snow breathed loudly, stretching his entire body in his seat.

Hope moved his legs out of the way when Snow kicked him accidentally. "Let's just not make a habit of it. I kind of like _not_ being stressed out for a change."

* * *

"Ma'am?"

"Sis, wake up."

Lightning reluctantly returned to full consciousness and rubbed a sore spot in her neck. She and Serah had been on the train to Paris for a few hours, and she was fairly restless. The longest she had been on a train was whenever she had to travel to the Dead Dunes or the Wildlands of Nova Chrysalia, but it wasn't nearly as dull back then with Hope chatting away in her ear. Here, it was just her and her sister, which was nice… but this was _six hours _of sitting in the same seat. "Sorry," she muttered, rubbing her cheek. "What was the question?"

"No question," the attendant said with a smile brighter than Lightning suspected he felt like giving. "I just wanted to let you know that we have an afternoon buffet open in the dining car for the next couple of hours. We will reach Paris before our dinner service, so you two may want to grab something now."

"Oh good, I was getting hungry. Thank you," Serah replied, and with a polite nod, the attendant moved onto the next group of passengers further up in the car. "Come on, Lightning," she urged as she stood, tugging on her sister's wrist like she did as a child. "The dining car is so pretty. Nothing but windows, and it'll let you stretch your legs a bit."

"That does sound nice," Lightning concurred, rising as well after checking to ensure their luggage was secured in the compartment above their heads.

The two sisters traversed the length of two more passenger cars and a sleeper car before they came to the dining car. The mirrored windows stretched nearly from floor to ceiling, the slight tint allowing for privacy and some protection from the sun. Serah had gone up to a server to ask for instructions and where to pay, and came back pleased to report that meals were included in the price of their ticket, so they were free to grab whatever they wanted and sit wherever they wished. The car was mostly empty at this point as most people had eaten lunch a couple of hours earlier, but Lightning and Serah had skipped that meal in lieu of catching up in their then-deserted passenger car. Even though everyone in this world had come from the old one, Lightning still didn't feel all that comfortable discussing everything that had happened there in front of other people. Aside from her closest friends and family, that is.

"Wow, it really _is_ as nice as the pamphlet said," Serah remarked. Lightning had to agree as she looked over the sizable buffet. Most of the offerings were appetizer-style selections, but there were also gourmet flatbread pizzas, a variety of soups and stews, a diverse salad bar, a large selection of specialty breads and cheeses, an entire section devoted to dessert, and a meat slicing station stocked with braised ribs. The two girls each grabbed two plates each and filled both. Serah had skipped the ribs in favor of a rich stew and a garden salad, but Lightning filled one of her plates with a half rack of ribs and steamed rosemary fingerling potatoes. She rounded out her late lunch with some of the fresh vegetables from the salad bar, and both she and Serah had grabbed a few dessert samplers to fill their extra plates. Once seated, the server came by to take their drink orders and quickly filled them.

"I could get used to this," Serah sighed in content. "Just with everybody else here with us."

"Yeah. Me too."

Lightning began working on the ribs, while Serah started with her soup and salad. She took one bite of the fragrant stew and nearly choked. She held up a hand to still her sister, who had shot up out of her seat, and took a drink of water to stop her coughing while Lightning slowly sat back down, still concerned. "Is it gross or something?"

"Not at all," Serah laughed once her throat was completely clear. "Try this, and tell me the first thing that comes to mind."

Lightning eyed the bowl her sister offered to her with a measure of suspicion, but acquiesced all the same. If she hadn't already been privy to the fact that there was something special about this soup, she probably would have nearly choked herself. "How about that. It tastes just like the NORA Special," she said wondrously, taking another bite. Serah pulled the bowl back greedily.

"Get your own!" she cried with mock offense.

"Good thing it's a buffet," Lightning grinned as she stood to do just that. She had an idea as she ladled a serving into a bowl for herself, and stopped a passing server.

"_Madame_? How may I assist you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but is the chef who made this stew available? I'd like to ask them something if I could."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, no," Lightning assured. "My sister literally inhaled it, she enjoyed it so much. I just wanted to ask the chef a few things about the recipe. Would you mind sending them to my table?"

"Not at all! I would be more than happy to do that for you. One moment while I fetch him." The server hurried off and Lightning returned to her seat to let Serah know what was going on. She had just finished doing so when a jovial-looking man in a tall chef's hat and coat appeared at the tableside.

"_Madames_," he greeted with a small bow, "I am told you wished to speak with me?"

"Yes," Lightning nodded, motioning to the two bowls on the table. "Would you mind giving us the recipe for this stew?"

The chef looked apologetic. "Ah, _je suis désolé_, but I'm afraid that recipe is special. It has been passed down for generations until it made its way to me." Lightning raised an eyebrow curiously. That sounded familiar…

"Won't you consider making an exception?" Serah pleaded sweetly. "It's just that, well, our mother died a long time ago, and this tastes exactly like my favorite dish she used to make."

Lightning blinked, turning her curious look to her sister then. She hadn't known her to lie so brazenly before, but the chef _did_ appear to be thinking it over.

"Well… I suppose for two lovely ladies such as yourselves, I could do just that. Give me a moment. I shall return momentarily."

"Thank you so much, chef…"

"Sebastien Aryas, at your service," he said as he bowed with flourish, removing his hat and clasping it to his chest as he did so. His hair had been pulled up into a net under his hat, which had come off as well, and now it hung like a curtain in front of his face, then down to his shoulders as he righted himself.

_Ah!_ Lightning knew she'd heard that story about the recipe before, but it was only now that she remembered who he was. She was about to say something, but he had already rushed off to get the recipe. She couldn't help but wonder why he didn't seem to recognize her; they had interacted many times during her time as the Savior. She didn't have long to think about it, because Chef Aryas was already returning. He handed Serah a notecard and then turned his attention to Lightning.

"_Mes excuses, madame,_ but have we met before?"

Lightning argued with herself for a second before responding. "…Yes, we have," she hesitated. "We spoke several times in Aryas Village on Nova Chrysalia."

The man suddenly laughed heartily and clapped his hands together once. "Ah! Why did you not tell me this earlier? I would have been more than happy to share my recipe with the woman I have to thank for reviving it after so many years! _Quelle chance_, I once again have the great honor of serving the Savior. This is a glorious day!"

Lightning shrank down in her seat, glancing around a bit to see if anyone had noticed the chef's outburst. "I'm no savior anymore," she was quick to insist. "Just a girl hanging out with her sister. That's all."

"Oh, I hope you don't really believe that, _Madame Sauveur_. None of us would be here if not for you. You are a precious gift to us all." Sebastien dropped to one knee and took hold of Lightning's hands in his own. He didn't seem to notice her fight-or-flight instincts were starting to kick in. That, or he just didn't care. "_Madame_, I pray you never forget your importance, and that everyone everywhere you go makes known their gratitude to you for winning us this brave new world. Because we know it was you, and we all owe everything we have now to your goodness."

By this point, Lightning was hunched so far down in her seat that she might as well have been sitting on the floor. "I… I had help, you know-"

"But of course, _Monsieur_ Estheim! Please do extend our gratitude to our esteemed Director as well. We are all in your debt." Before Lightning could say anything more, the chef kissed each of her hands in turn in a gesture of honor rather than affection, stood, and returned to his station in the kitchens. Neither sister said a word for some time, as Lightning was still frozen to the spot and Serah had taken to examining the recipe. Suddenly, the younger burst into incredulous laughter and held the card to her chest.

"What is it?" Lightning asked, both startled and thankful for the break from her embarrassment. Serah didn't speak, but instead handed the card to her. When Lightning read the name scrawled across the top of the card, she couldn't help but laugh herself. She knew the dish was the same as soon as Chef Aryas had shown up at the table, but it was interesting that he still called it the NORA Special. "Huh. Maybe I should introduce him to Lebreau. That recipe would have been passed down from her."

"Eh, I maybe wouldn't," Serah said warily. "You might cause some sort of rift in space-time if you bring a man and his great-great-great, however-many-greats, grandmother together."

"Yeah… I suppose you're right. But at least now we can surprise Lebreau with her own signature meal."

The two girls continued their meals casually, continuing their conversation from lunchtime, but remaining fairly vague so as to keep anyone eavesdropping from knowing the exact subject matter. Halfway through their dessert plates, in a now significantly busier car, a young girl skipped up to their table, her worn velveteen rabbit crushed to her chest. "Hi!" she said brightly. She couldn't have been more than six or seven.

"Well hello, there," Serah greeted in return, picking up the slack when Lightning could only stare blankly at the visitor. She was starting to worry a little about her sister. She'd been doing a lot of that, lately.

"Do I know _everybody_ on this damn train?" Lightning muttered under her breath.

Serah hadn't heard exactly what she said and raised an eyebrow in question, but luckily their young visitor had been oblivious. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Dolce," she recited, swaying from her heels to her tiptoes and back again. "What's your name?"

"I'm Serah, and this is my sist-"

"I'm Claire," Lightning finally spoke with a gentle smile at the girl. She ignored Serah's surprised stare.

"Hi Serah, hi Claire," the girl repeated, now eyeing the dessert plates on their table. "Can I please have your cake?"

Lightning grinned as Serah roared with laughter. "You know you can get these cupcakes from the buffet, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't reach that high."

"Why don't I help you?" Serah offered once she had stopped laughing, and the girl nodded vigorously. She was barely off of her chair when the little girl's name rang out through the dining car, and a frazzled woman had rushed up and taken Dolce's hand in her own, causing the child to drop her stuffed rabbit in surprise.

"I'm so, so sorry about my daughter," the woman, evidently Dolce's mother, apologized profusely.

Lightning's smile grew even brighter. _Her mother. They've found each other._

"She's no bother, ma'am," Serah assured, waving dismissively. "I was just going to help her with the buffet."

The young woman huffed and turned to her daughter with her hands on her hips. "Dolce! I _told_ you no more dessert right now, and so did your father," she scolded.

"But mine is all gone, Mommy!"

"Yes, and if you have any more right now, you won't have any for dinner."

The girl looked longingly at the cupcake still on Lightning's plate, then sighed melodramatically as only a child deprived of instant gratification could. "O_kay_," she finally gave in, and the mother pulled her away with another round of apologies. Something on the floor caught Lightning's eye as they left, though.

"Wait," she called out after realizing it was Dolce's stuffed animal. _Déjà vu._ She picked it up and hurried after them to return it. She held it out to the girl and smiled. "Almost forgot your friend."

"Oh gosh! Lightning! Thank you, ma'am!"

Lightning blinked in shock.

"But… I thought-"

"That the rabbit would have a more appropriate name?" the mother laughed. "She insisted on it, no matter how many other names her father and I suggested. We get asked about it all the time."

Lightning laughed weakly, still a bit shaken. It didn't appear the girl recognized her at all, but she had known who Dolce was immediately, picturing the sad, lost little girl standing all alone in a corner of the North Station Plaza in Luxerion. The only thing different about her now was the nature of the doll she carried, and of course, that she was no longer alone. Lightning couldn't help but wonder why she didn't seem to remember her face while evidently remembering her name, especially when Chef Aryas had recognized her eventually. Nonetheless, she was glad Dolce had been reunited with her parents. The poor thing had been so distraught after her loss, and only when Lightning had returned her missing doll did she find any hope again. She knelt down in front of the girl to look her in the eye and softened.

"It's a lovely name, Dolce," she said, beaming. "Don't lose her, now. The funny thing about lightning is that, if you don't watch carefully, it'll be gone before you knew it was even there."

"I won't lose her again, I promise!"

"Good."

After thanking Lightning again, Dolce and her mother exited the car, the little girl turning back and waving just before the door closed.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Serah commented after Lightning had returned to her seat.

"That girl," Lightning said, "I helped her in Luxerion. One of the very first days after I woke up."

"She didn't seem to know you, though," Serah pointed out.

"I know, but guess what her toy's name is?"

"…Seriously?"

"Yep."

Serah looked quizzically at her plate, then shrugged. "Well, at least your namesake is adorable. And, you know, not a flan or something."

"Great."

"It _is_ strange, though…" Serah mused after a moment of introspection. "Two people you saved on Nova Chrysalia in the _same_ car on the _same _train at the _same time_. That's either one incredible case of serendipity, or it's just plain scary."

"Can we just hurry up and finish so we can get out of here before the entire train ends up thanking me for something?" Lightning was unnerved by the situation, despite being elated that both familiar faces were doing quite well. She would rather worry about it later than miss enjoying her gourmet cupcake to the fullest. "Oh good, red velvet."

* * *

The sound of Snow's booming laugh would have knocked Hope right off the train had it been a solid object. He'd heard it even before he opened the door to their car. He'd just been to the dining car to find out if there would be any meal service on the way, per Snow's request, but was told all they had on the two-hour trip was a concession stand, which was the source of the snacks he now carried. He would have made Snow go ask himself, but he wanted to stretch his legs anyway.

Snow was standing in the center aisle joking around with a young couple, regaling them with stories of his adventures on Gran Pulse at the moment. Hope rolled his eyes and decided against joining them. He had no choice but to listen, though. "-just kept getting bigger and bigger as more of the damn things melded to it. I gave it a run for its money, for sure, but I was lucky when my wife and our friend came along. We took it down no sweat after that."

"Your wife sounds pretty incredible, Sno-_OW_. Well _ob_viously not as incredible as you, honey."

"Nice try, buddy. She really does sound amazing, though, Snow."

"Wouldn't be marrying her if she wasn't!"

"Oh, you haven't gotten married yet?"

"Well, see, there was all this stuff that happened… started even before I proposed to her…"

"If she's as amazing as she sounds, why haven't you married her after all this time?"

"Funny you should ask-"

Hope tuned them out as best he could, putting on a pair of noise-canceling headphones he had picked up back in Rennes. Being alone with his thoughts wasn't his first choice, especially since he hadn't really taken the opportunity to cope with everything he'd been through in the last 500 years, and Snow retelling most of it had only served to bring some of his most unpleasant memories to the front of his mind. To be fair, some of his most _cherished_ memories were intermixed, so he tried to focus on those instead.

_Keep your eyes front. I'll watch the rear._

_You're my _son_! This is your home._

_I… me too. I mean, if I can. I'll protect you, too._

_I had no idea you felt that way!  
Hah – gotcha!_

_My brand! It's gone!_

_Hope, I'm an old man now. It's up to you to carry the torch – _Director.

_Hope? Is that you?  
I'm grateful you remember me._

_You're on the right path._

_We've got Vanille _and_ Fang! Their crystal is intact. Bringing 'em home._

_As long as you were with me, Light, I didn't have to fear anything. I'm not scared. Not even now. Because you're here._

_Let's go. We'll be together._

If he was honest with himself, it really wasn't _that_ many happy memories for a thousand-year time span, and for the first time, he was grateful that he didn't focus on just how hard things were for most of that time. Even so, he had all kinds of time now to dwell on it, and he found himself overwhelmed. Glancing at a clock on the wall and noting another hour remaining in the trip, Hope decided to find out if there were any computers he could use on board. Evidently, he _did_ need a proper distraction.

* * *

"Attention passengers! We are now approaching _Gare de L'est_, Paris. Passengers disembarking, please ensure you have all your belongings before exiting the train. Passengers continuing to Normandy, please remain seated. Thank you!"

The message over the intercom repeated in another couple of languages Lightning didn't understand, but she and Serah weren't paying much attention as they gathered their things.

"Ugh!" Lightning glanced behind her to see her sister struggling with her overstuffed suitcase. "Sis-"

"No way."

"I haven't asked you anything yet!"

"I saw you trying to defy the laws of physics to close that thing. I knew you'd ask sooner or later."

Serah looked pathetic trying to pull her heavy case down from the storage compartment. "Please? I don't want to kill myself with this thing."

Lightning dropped her own bag on her seat and reached up with a huff. "I'll help you get it out into the aisle. After that, you're on your own."

* * *

"Your attention please! We are approaching Paris Montparnasse Station. Please prepare for deboarding."

"Yeah!" Snow was up and at the exit in a flash.

"Uh. Snow?"

"What is it, Hope?"

"Your stuff." Hope slung his own bags over his shoulder and over-exaggerated the gesture towards the other two bags at his feet.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Snow rushed back as quickly as he'd left, grabbed his bags, and was back at the exit before the train had finished pulling into the station. Hope joined him as soon as the car jolted forward and back again, signaling full stop.

"Let's not get separated while we're here, Snow. We don't have any way of communicating if we get split up."

"Make sure you keep up then, kid!" Snow was already out the now open doors.

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem now, _junior_," Hope smirked, matching Snow stride for stride.

"Where to first?" Snow asked, scanning an area map on the wall once the two had entered the grand lobby of the station.

"I'm not keen to carry these bags all around the city, so let's go check into our hotel first," Hope said as he adjusted the strap of his duffel bag. While Snow was examining the map, Hope grabbed several tourist pamphlets and a walking map of Paris from a nearby display rack.

"Good plan. Know where we're going?"

"I will in a minute," Hope grinned, waving the map. "We should probably hail a cab to get to the hotel, though. It's a ways from here."

"Whatever gets us there the fastest," Snow said, adjusting his own bags and setting off towards the front doors. This time, Hope didn't mind the rush.

[end ch. 6]


	7. Chapter 7: Crosstown Traffic

Helloooo, readers! Thank you so much for the continued reviews, the follows, and the favorites! Each and every one of them make my day. If I haven't replied to your review, then I will do so shortly. Thanks as always to my amazing beta, RainbowSerenity! She's here on - give her a looksee. She writes some incredible Hoperai goodness. ALL OF THE SQUEE. She's on tumblr too, under the same handle. And so am I, as karissaeb (and I always post new chapters there first). We both post our writing there as well, if you don't have an account on here and would rather leave feedback on there. Either is good for me!

Alrighty, time to stop yapping. On with the story. Lots of back and forth in this chapter, so pay close attention!

* * *

**Chapter VII: Crosstown Traffic**

"Thanks a lot for the ride," Lightning told the cabbie as she handed him the amount owed, plus a tip.

"No, no, it's on the house!" their driver, Francois, insisted. "Driving the Savior around is a privilege!"

Lightning looked away from his gaze in the rearview mirror and got out of the cab, but not before she "forgot" to pocket the money she had meant for the fare and leaving it conspicuously on the backseat. The driver had already gotten out to get their baggage out of the trunk, so she was sure he'd see the money on his way back to the driver's seat before another passenger found it. After he had pulled their luggage out, he shook both of their hands, thanked them, and went back to his seat. Lightning was hurrying towards the front door of the hotel when she heard the driver call out to her.

"_Madame, _wait! You dropped your money!"

"What money?" Lightning called back, grinning over her shoulder as she kept her pace. She saw Serah giggling conspiratorially when she turned to face front, and together, the two pushed through the entryway to _Le Royal Monceau-Raffles_.

* * *

"I appreciate the help," Hope thanked the desk clerk at their hotel, accepting the key cards she offered.

"My pleasure, Mr. Estheim, Patron," the clerk nodded, her heavy accent coloring every word. "Adjoining rooms for you, and wake-up call service at seven a.m. If you need anything further, please do not hesitate to ask myself, my colleagues, or our fantastic Concierge."

"Man, what a nice hotel!" Snow whistled as the pair headed for the gilded elevator doors. "Good thing we happened upon one whose owner worked for me in Yusnaan."

"I don't like getting things gratis, but in this case, I have to agree," Hope admitted. "At least, until we find my bank account." He pressed the button for their floor and leaned against the back wall of the elevator, which was entirely mirrored.

"Mine had a surprising amount in it," Snow shrugged, "so let me take care of things for the time being. Anything you want, just get, and I've gotcha covered."

"I'm going to-"

"Pay me back, blah blah blah, I know," Snow finished for him, rolling his eyes. "Don't you worry. I'm keeping a tab right here." He brought a finger to his temple just as the elevator doors opened. They walked out onto their floor and turned the corner, heading down a long black-and-white-striped hallway in the direction of their rooms. "Man, they even decorated this place like Yusnaan. Or I guess more like Luxerion..."

"And since I know all too well your propensity for exaggeration," Hope quipped, holding up his notepad, "I'm keeping one, too."

"Your lack of trust wounds me."

"Good thing you've got those super-human healing powers then, huh?" Hope was joking, but he fully intended on finding out why Snow's hand had healed so miraculously fast. He didn't want to test it by breaking one of his _own_ bones or anything, but he thought he might find a hospital or something to allow him to investigate further. He'd have to find the hotel's business center before they left to see if he could find anything on the internet. "Are you really sure your hand was broken?"

"H'oh, yeah," Snow affirmed, sounding almost boastful. "You should've seen it, it was _this_ big!"

"You sound like an old fisherman," Hope chuckled.

"I wasn't talking about a fish," Snow said, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

"Uh... I'll just be over here, heaving."

"Serah would too, if not for her lack of gag ref-"

"I AM NOT HEARING THIS," Hope yelled with his hands over his ears, retreating to the room he had thankfully just unlocked and pushing the door shut behind him.

* * *

"Where should we go first? Serah was sitting cross-legged on the edge of her bed, while Lightning was carefully hanging some of the more delicate items, like her blue sweater, in their room's closet.

"Why not go see if we can figure out where our bank accounts are kept?" she suggested. "I know the Estheims gave us enough to get by until we get back, but I don't want to use any more of their money than absolutely necessary."

"Agreed," Serah said, rocking gently side to side from her seat. "I'm sure they'll have some central location we can check. Can we swing by a library or something after that? I have a couple of things I want to check out."

"Of course." Lightning hung her last delicate in the closet and slid the door shut. "We can stop at a café at some point, too. I've seen nothing but good things about Parisian cafes. Especially this one place called Carette about ten minutes away."

"We should probably also figure out where we can go to research where everyone is," Serah suggested hopefully.

"You think you'll run into Snow there." It was a statement more than a question. Serah nodded in response and Lightning smiled gently. "How about this, then? We'll ask the concierge about where to find information on the others, and you head there. You were always better at finding people than I was anyway, and I'm fairly sure wherever that is will have the information you wanted from the library as well." She gathered her satchel, phone, and room key and grabbed a sweater just in case. "I'll head to the bank first, then come meet up with you, and we'll find Carette together."

"Sounds good to me," Serah said brightly as she grabbed her own bag and phone. After hanging a _Do Not Disturb_ sign on their door handle, the sisters made their way to the mirrored elevator doors and headed down to the lobby to speak with the concierge. Lightning secretly hoped his accent wasn't quite as thick as the desk clerk's.

* * *

After a couple of wrong turns, Hope and Snow finally found themselves in front of their destination almost two hours after they had left their hotel. "Here it is. The _Archives Nationales de France_."

"About time," Snow sighed loudly.

"I read the map correctly. It's only when you insisted on taking over that we ended up a mile in the wrong direction." Hope sounded peeved, but in all honesty, the detour had been rather scenic. He'd have to make sure he visited Paris again at some point when he could stay longer. And, preferably, have Light with him. The two found their way to the front desk and asked where to find the information they were looking for.

"Straight up the stairs and off to the right," the clerk instructed, sounding pleasant but thoroughly bored. "Ask the attendant up there for access to the system and she'll get you taken care of."

"Thank you," Hope said, and quickened his steps to catch up with Snow, who was rushing ahead – as usual.

* * *

"Up the stairs and to the left," the clerk told her, and Serah nodded her thanks. She had just arrived at the _Archives Nationales de France_ and wasted no time getting to work. She had felt a little unsure of herself at first after she and Lightning had split up to cover more ground, but after a quick pep talk over the phone with her sister (_"Did you forget about saving the world without me? You know… ignoring all that Caius crap."_)_,_ she regained her confidence and walked with purpose. As it turned out, the _Archives _did indeed have its own library so she could do some research on becoming a teacher in France. She decided to do that first since it was probably the easier of her two tasks to complete. She quickly spotted a dark-skinned, bespectacled woman with hair even larger and fuller than Sazh's sitting behind a circulation desk reading a book so worn, she was surprised it was even holding together.

"Excuse me," Serah said quietly to get the librarian's attention, "I'm afraid I haven't been here long so I wouldn't know where to start, but could you tell me where I could find some information on teaching?" The librarian closed the book she was reading and smiled sweetly.

"In general or as a profession?"

"Profession. I was a teacher in the old world," Serah explained. "Up to young teenagers."

"All at once too, I bet," the middle-aged woman sympathized.

Serah chuckled. "Afraid so. I started just after the Fall, so most of the older kids were out working or pulling guard duty, but I had at least one or two on any given day."

"Well, the first thing you'll need to do," the woman said, coming out from behind her desk and motioning for Serah to follow, "is get your degree. Did you attend any of the universities in the old world?"

"Uh, no," Serah admitted. "I got kind of caught up in some serious stuff just before the Purge… but I had planned to go before everything started happening." Serah declined going into further detail about just how 'caught up' she had been in all those events. "My fiancé and I haven't even been able to get married yet, and we got engaged before the Purge."

"I've heard of long engagements, but that, my dear, takes the damn cake."

"I suppose we could have in the couple of years after the Fall, but my sister had gone missing." Serah wasn't sure why she was telling this woman so much, but she felt as though she could trust her. With this superficial information, at least. "She raised me after our parents died, so I didn't feel right getting married without her there."

The librarian nodded slowly. "I can understand that, not wanting to move to the next stage without your family." Serah stole a look at her guide's expression as she turned the corner and was taken aback by how pained it was. Her heart instantly ached for this woman. "I was offered a teaching position myself at the university in Strasbourg, but I haven't found my son or my husband yet. If they're here in Paris somewhere, or haven't woken up yet, or…" She trailed off, and Serah wasn't sure what to say to break the silence. Luckily, Serah didn't have to. The librarian shook her head gently before continuing. "Suffice it to say, I've asked them to give me some time to think about it."

"I understand." Serah wanted so much to comfort the woman, but no matter how familiar she may have seemed, she was a stranger and may not have appreciated the hug Serah wanted to give. Serah didn't feel right doing nothing, though, and settled for a gentle squeeze of the older woman's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll turn up. I'm actually going over to the archives after I finish here to find my fiancé. If you'd like, I can look for your family, too."

"Oh, you're too kind," the woman said gratefully. "I've been over those databases more times than I can count, though, and they are most definitely not listed there."

"Well, I'll keep an eye out regardless." The two women came to a stop at a long table facing some interior windows. There were a few computer stations set up with various university brochures scattered between them.

"Here we are," the librarian announced cheerfully, motioning for Serah to sit at the nearest computer. Serah winced when she realized how forced the sudden upbeat attitude was. "Since you already know what you want to do, the best thing to do is to search for teaching programs rather than a specific school. If you research schools in general, you might find this amazing one, only to find their teaching program subpar at best."

"Where did you get your degree?" Serah inquired.

"The university in Eden, but my degree is in flight engineering, not specifically teaching. In my field, you don't necessarily need a teaching degree to head up a class. Just need a certificate and a lot of experience. Lots and _lots_ of experience."

Serah sighed. "I guess you wouldn't be able to give me a recommendation, then?"

"Afraid not, miss. Not unless you want to know everything there is to know about aeronautics."

"That's more my friend's area of expertise," Serah laughed. "He and his boy are actually in Strasbourg. You should look them up if you end up going there."

The woman grinned. "Maybe I will if I need a sub."

Serah leaned forward in her chair and extended her hand. "My name is Serah. Serah Farron."

The librarian shook Serah's outstretched hand firmly. "A pleasure, Serah. I'm Estelle Katzroy."

Serah almost fell out of her chair.

* * *

"Well that's… disappointing." Hope ran a hand through his hair to brush it away from his scowling face. Snow was somehow managing to keep his frustrated ruminating to a low volume, but that was probably because he had already been yelled at three times in the hour they had been there searching, and the last time, the clerk had threatened to have him escorted out of the archive area if he couldn't control himself. "How could they not have any of the regional papers here?"

"No census data, either," Snow muttered. Hope saw him slump over in his chair and looked over. "What if they're not in France?"

"They're here," Hope insisted.

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

Snow said nothing in return, opting instead to stare at his computer's screen as if willing the information he was looking for to jump out of it. Hope turned back to his own research, but after finding nothing on any familiar names, not even Bhun… _his_ name, he was ready to look elsewhere.

"You boys need any help?" a chipper voice asked from behind them. Hope turned around, noticing Snow doing the same out of the corner of his eye but with an odd forcefulness, to face the source of the question. A petite girl, probably around nineteen or twenty years of age with blonde hair styled into a short, boyish bob, was bent at the waist to lean towards them, leaning at what had to be an uncomfortable angle as she did so.

"No," Snow nearly growled before Hope could answer. He looked at his friend in shock.

"Snow?" Hope couldn't believe how vicious a tone Snow had taken with the girl. He also couldn't believe how pale he looked after this girl had shown up. He turned his attention back to the newcomer with an apologetic look on his face. "Please excuse my friend," he said, glancing curiously at his irritated companion. "We're looking for our friends and-"

"We don't need your help," Snow interrupted, rising from his chair and standing at full height between the girl and Hope.

"Snow, what the-"

"Thanks," Snow hissed, shifting his weight so as to appear more intimidating. The girl, to her credit, appeared to be having none of his attitude.

"Look, man, I came over here because I thought I might be able to help," she shot back as she straightened to _her_ full, though still very petite height, jamming her hands onto her hips for effect. "I _do_ work here, you know."

"Then we'll be going now," Snow said disdainfully, "just as soon as we close out our searches. You can go now, too."

The girl huffed indignantly, spun on her heel, and walked away quickly, muttering something about 'rude' and 'asshole'. Hope sat slack-jawed, staring as his friend whipped around and started shutting everything down. "Hurry up, man, close that shit!" Snow instructed urgently in a hushed voice. "Make sure you clear the search history so she can't see what we're looking for."

After several moments, Hope finally spoke, calmly and quietly. "Snow, do you want to explain why you've just antagonized a girl we've never met?"

"Never-" Snow stopped short after realizing the volume at which he had responded and lowered his voice once more. "Never met?! Hope, don't you know who that was?"

"Nope. But she seemed very nice."

"Hope, _that _was Alyssa."

Hope blinked. "Alyssa? The girl you were talking about yesterday?"

"_Yes,_ that crazy bitch who tried to kill you. You _really_ didn't recognize her at all?"

"Not at all." Hope was telling the truth. He had vaguely remembered _an_ Alyssa who worked for the Academy, but he hadn't recalled her face or voice or anything. Only her name, and only just. "And even if she is like you say she is, I highly doubt she would try anything in the middle of this heavily guarded government building."

"Kid, she had planned to kill you in your _own_ government building."

Hope couldn't exactly argue that, but he remained steadfast. "Snow, whatever she was in whatever paradox you're remembering, she's clearly harmless here. Relax."

"No way, man. Sis would kill me if anything happened to you on my watch."

Hope rolled his eyes as Snow pushed him to the side and started the same process he had worked through on the other desktop. The only reason he didn't insist upon staying was that they really hadn't found anything anyway, other than a lead on where to find out where Hope's money was kept. It was better than nothing, he supposed, even if it wasn't what he was hoping to find. Maybe he'd get lucky some other way. Hope jumped up from his seat to avoid being pulled off of it as Snow grabbed his arm to lead him off. He would have been lying if he said he wasn't a little annoyed with this entirely uncharacteristic behavior. Perhaps Snow's time in Yusnaan had permanently changed him into something darker? He knew Bhunivelze had misjudged how Snow would react when Lightning first went to confront him, but even if he hadn't been possessed by a god, Hope would have made the same assumption. Either way, it was a little disconcerting to see Snow act in such a manner. If indeed this Alyssa had been a paradox meant to never survive the initial Purge of Bodhum, and had been resolved somewhere along the timeline, then logically, she would never have been around to even know who Hope was. He could easily see Light being proactively defensive like that, though perhaps not quite as viciously so, but Snow? It just didn't make sense. Something was up with the guy, and he was going to find out what.

Hope snapped to attention when he ran straight into Snow's back. He hadn't even realized they were now in the atrium between the archives and the national library, and Snow was looking around sheepishly, unsure as to where to go next. "Guess that plan backfired," he mumbled.

"_What_ plan?" Hope exclaimed. "The plan to vilify some girl who, by all accounts, probably has no clue who I am, and rush out with nothing?"

"We don't have _nothing_, we have that bank name," Snow pointed out. "And she wasn't scared at all."

"Maybe, but that was not like you at all back there."

Snow blinked, stayed silent for several moments, then shrugged, as was his usual response to something he was unsure how to address. "At least she knows to keep her distance now," he said nonchalantly. "Lightning really would kill me if anything were to happen to you."

"If she can get past whatever has rendered you indestructible, anyway. And I can take care of myself." Hope pinched the bridge of his nose as he weighed their current options. He did want to look into whatever was going on with Snow, but he didn't necessarily need Snow there to do it, and he wanted to avoid any further outbursts if he was to get anything else done today. "How about this," he began. "I go look into that bank to see about getting access to my money. You should go into the library and see if they might have some copies of the small town publications in there. I'll meet you back at the hotel later this evening."

Snow looked uneasy. "You sure you'll be okay by yourself?" He was still on the defensive after their run-in with Alyssa. "There's no way for you to get a hold of me if something happens and you need help."

"There are plenty of police around if I really end up in a jam," Hope said dismissively, "but I'm fairly sure I can handle whatever comes my way. I _am_ all grown up now, in case you've forgotten who's older here."

Snow's brow was still furrowed, but he eventually relaxed his features and ruffled Hope's hair, much to the shorter man's dismay as he smoothed it back out. "Fine, kid. Meet back at the hotel later." Snow handed Hope more than enough money to get him through the day, despite Hope's protest, and set off towards the library.

"Oh, and Snow?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to get thrown out of there, too."

"No promises!"

* * *

After getting the run-around from three different banks in the area, Lightning finally found herself in front of the _Banque de France_. She had been told by the first bank to try here first, since it had a reputation for housing high profile accounts, but she wasn't anything special in this world. Why would her money be kept amongst that of politicians, celebrities, and the richest of businesspeople? She was shocked to find that, indeed, her money _was_ kept here, along with Serah's, and that the both of them were very, very well off.

"There... there has to be some mistake," she stammered. She couldn't keep her mouth from hanging open as she counted the number of zeroes again. "I don't even know what to do with this much money!"

"That, madame, is not for me to decide," the bank manager chuckled, "but I imagine the savior of us all would have been very well taken care of here. I am pleased to see that is the case." The kindly man helped Lightning from her seat and guided her towards the door, where an assistant was waiting. "Candace here will assist you in procuring your bank cards, any cash you may want to have on hand, access for your sister, and anything else you may need." He shook her hand and ignored how limply it grasped his in return. "Please do not hesitate to contact me again if you need anything further, Ms. Farron."

"Sir, your next appointment is waiting for you just outside," Candace mentioned before noticing Lightning had already wandered further down the hall in her money-induced shock.

"Ah, yes! Please send him in."

"Already done, sir. He'll be along any moment, now." And with that, Candace rushed off before Lightning wandered straight out of the building and guided her into her office.

The manager shook his head in amusement before looking up to shake the hand of the man who had just walked into the hall. "Director Estheim, it's an honor! Please step inside my office. I've already pulled your file."

* * *

Once Serah had gotten over the initial shock of meeting Sazh's wife, she easily convinced her to come back with them to Strasbourg. Estelle had rushed off in her enthusiasm to see about arranging her departure, and since then, Serah had spent the last couple of hours researching program after program. She found she really wanted to stay in the Alsace area as she had grown quite fond of the Estheims and the geography there, and as luck would have it, there were a few fine teaching programs at the universities in the region. She had already fired off a few applications after getting Bartholomew's permission to use their address for return mail, and was increasingly excited about going. She was glad the application process was so similar to that in the old world, including the ability to apply remotely. Hopefully she would hear back from some of them soon, as classes were scheduled to start only a couple of months from now.

She stretched in her seat after hitting _submit_ on her fourth application, feeling her stomach growl as she did so. "I guess that's enough for today," she said to no one in particular, and after gathering her things and some of the brochures she had printed earlier, she made her way back to the circulation desk to confirm travel arrangements with Estelle before leaving to meet up with Lightning. After a few twists and turns in the wrong direction, she finally heard her new friend's voice carrying from around the next corner.

"What is it you're looking for, mister…?"

"No need for any mister. Name's Snow Villiers."

Serah felt her entire body drain of energy and leaned against the wall for support. Had she heard right? Was he really here? Somehow, she was able to will her legs to move again, though her knees were weak and shook with each step. She was grateful the conversation continued, as it served as a sort of beacon, helping her strength return to her with each step closer to rounding the corner.

"Well, Snow Villiers, it's nice to meet you. My name is Estelle."

"Pleasure! So, uh, I guess what I'm looking for is newspapers from smaller towns in France. My friend is looking for his parents and they put up an ad in their local paper with their contact information."

"Do you know which paper?"

"Er… no."

_Almost there…_

"The town, maybe?"

"I, uh… don't know that either." Snow was laughing now. He probably was rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he was embarrassed. "I know it's in the countryside, and there's a bigger city within an hour drive."

"Both incredibly vague and oddly specific. That could be a lot of places!" Estelle's tone was one of reproach, but equally of mischief. Just like Sazh whenever he chastised Snow.

_Snow_. He was here. He was actually here. Why weren't her feet moving any faster?

"Believe me, I wish I had more to go on. My wife is there, too."

_Wife?_ They weren't married yet.

"Your wife, huh? That's gotta be rough, being separated from her. I'm separated from my family, too. How long have you been married?"

"Well, we're… uh, not actually married yet."

Jumping the gun, as usual. She didn't mind. Especially since she had finally turned the corner and could see them now. Estelle was already walking in the other direction with Snow following close behind. Serah tried to move faster, but she still was having trouble moving at all, and did the only thing she could.

"Wait!"

Snow stopped short, his back rigid, as Estelle turned around to face Serah only to find she was gripping the edge of the circulation desk, looking like she was about to fall over.

"Serah, honey, are you all right?" Estelle asked, hurrying to her side. There was little need for her urgency, though. Snow was faster.

"Serah," he breathed as he scooped her up into his arms, dropping to his knees. Serah could do little else than clutch the fabric of his t-shirt and cry. Snow was holding her so tightly that she found it a bit difficult to breathe, but that just as easily could have been due to her breath hitching constantly as she wept. "Serah, Serah, Serah…" Snow kept whispering her name in between kissing the top of her head, her forehead, her shoulder, the crook of her neck, whatever he could make contact with as she emptied too-long-buried emotion into his chest. Estelle had walked off to give them some privacy, but it wouldn't have mattered if all of Paris gave witness. At that moment, nothing else mattered. She was here. He was here. They were finally back together.

Serah eventually pushed back from his now quite damp t-shirt and made to wipe it down. "Oh no," she managed through her still uneven breaths, "your shirt!"

"Who cares," Snow laughed weakly, his voice thick with adoration. "It's just a shirt."

"But it's ruined now," she lamented.

Snow laughed heartily this time, rising and pulling her to her feet, then lifting her outright and spinning her around. Serah's cries of pure joy echoed through the library, and not one person seemed to mind. She couldn't find the words she wanted to say as he set her down, arms firmly in place around her, so she stood on tiptoe to kiss him full on instead. Anything she needed or wanted to say to him, she could convey this way. With the way he responded, Snow appeared to understand with no problem. Reluctantly, they broke apart when they heard the sound of a throat clearing.

"I hate to interrupt," a grinning, but genuinely apologetic Estelle cut in, "but if you want to find those papers, I've got all the ones matching your description pulled out for you."

"Oh!" Serah's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry, Estelle." She fished her cell phone out of her bag and held it up triumphantly. "I have Hope's parents' number right here! Obviously not Hope's, though."

Snow released Serah from his grasp, but kept an arm firmly around her shoulders. Some small part of him was afraid she would fade away if he didn't maintain physical contact of some sort. "Neither of us has a phone, but he went off to the bank to get his accounts squared away. If we hurry, we might ca-"

"Wait, what bank?"

"The _Banque de France_, why?"

"Hold on." Serah tapped furiously at her phone, staring at it intently even after she had stopped. A small tone sounded a few moments later, and she bounced excitedly. "Estelle," she said quickly, "are you set for coming back tomorrow?"

"I wish tomorrow," Estelle muttered. "I have to get things settled here, because I sure don't plan on leaving Strasbourg once I get there. I'll leave here first thing Friday morning."

"Good." Serah jotted down her number on a piece of paper and handed it to the older woman. "Call me with your travel information and I'll meet you in Strasbourg when you get in. We'll take it from there."

Estelle carefully secured the paper in her skirt pocket and hugged the younger woman quickly. "Will do. Thank you, Serah. Now off with you before your skin leaves you behind."

"Thank you, Estelle! See you Friday!" Serah rushed off with a wave, pulling a confused Snow along with her.

"Serah, what's going on?" he asked as he recovered enough to match her stride without surpassing it.

"That bank you mentioned Hope went to? Guess who else is there right now?"

Snow's face lit up in realization. "Oh man," he laughed. "I hope they find each other before we get there, but I really don't want to miss this." Snow picked up his pace along with Serah as they rushed out the doors to grab a taxi that had just stopped at the curb to unload. "What about that Estelle? What's her story?"

"She's Sazh's wife."

"She's _what_!?"

* * *

"That should be everything you need, Mr. Estheim," the bank manager affirmed, shaking Hope's hand jovially.

"I really appreciate all your help," Hope answered gratefully. "It's nice to not have to rely on my friends for money when I need it."

"I assume that's how Madame Farron felt as well when she saw her own account," the manager laughed jovially.

Hope was _not_ laughing.

"Farron?" he asked quickly. "Which one?"

"The elder," answered the middle-aged man, rather taken aback by Hope's demanding tone, "why? I thought she was here with you."

"Is she still here?" Hope had stood so quickly from his chair that he knocked it over backwards. After setting it upright, he rushed to the door of the office.

"Unless she has already finished her business in Candace's office, she should still be- to the right, Director, not left!"

Hope barely heard the manager as he whipped around to correct his bearing, now heading in the right direction to Candace's office, who he assumed was the young assistant he had spoken to when he first arrived. He quickly scanned nameplates outside of the office doors as he rushed by them, until finally, he had arrived at the one he was looking for. Without knocking, he grabbed the handle, turned it, and burst through the open door. He was met with a startled squeak.

"What is the meaning of this?" It was a tall security guard who demanded to know why Hope had barged into the small office unannounced.

"It's okay, Tomesso," the young assistant to whom this office belonged said soothingly, a hand to her chest as she relaxed. "This is Director Estheim. He's supposed to be here… though I'm sure I don't know why he insisted on rushing in without an escort?"

Hope composed himself after ensuring that Lightning was not in the room. "My apologies," he blurted with a small bow. "The woman who was just in here – could you tell me where she is?"

"Miss Farron?" Candace seemed confused by the question, but replied dutifully. "She just left my office a moment ago, actually. I know she had to stop by the automated teller station in the lobby-" She couldn't finish, because Hope was already gone. Regardless, she yelled 'you're welcome!' after him and returned her attention to her husband. "Did you see her sweater, honey? It was so cute! She has such a great look."

* * *

Hope burst into the bank's main lobby, scanning its many occupants in search of that familiar rose hue. With each passing moment, he grew more and more concerned that maybe, just maybe, he had missed her. Again. _Please, don't be gone yet…_ He asked the nearest employee where to find the automated teller, and after being pointed in the right direction near the front doors, rushed off. He still didn't see Lightning, and seeing how close his destination was to the exit made his heart sink. _No… please…_

"Did you get mine too?"

That voice was familiar.

"It took some extra time, but yes, and no one gave me a hassle about it."

_That_ was the voice he had hoped to hear. He turned to face it and felt his heart leap.

There she was, not ten feet from where he stood, blocked from the exit by her sister and his travel companion. For a moment, he couldn't move – only stare at the back of her head as if she would disappear if he so much as blinked.

"We have a lot more than I ever thought we would," he heard her say in disbelief.

"Hah, that's how I felt when I saw how much I had." Snow was talking now. Hope noticed he was shifting his weight any time Lightning tried to move past him to block her path and remembered that Snow had known where he was going. He was _deliberately_ stalling her. Any irritation Hope had felt towards Snow earlier dissipated completely and he made a mental note to give him extra when he paid him back.

"I picked up your bank card and some cash for the both of us," Lightning was telling Serah, who kept looking over her sister's shoulder into the crowd mulling about the lobby. Hope couldn't see her face, but he could see Serah's light up when she spotted him walking towards them. "I'm sorry, but am I keeping you from something?" Hope could hear the scowl on her face even though he couldn't see it. He was directly behind her now, and his hand shook ever so slightly as he reached out for her shoulder and made contact.

"Who-" Lightning whipped around so far that her hair smacked Hope in the face, but she froze when she looked _up_ to see who had been trying to get her attention. Her eyes widened and she stood stock still, much as Hope did, his hand still hovering in the air above where Lightning's shoulder had just been. Snow and Serah stood together in front of the exit, the head of the latter resting against the chest of the former.

"Light…" Hope croaked after what seemed like an eternity. Mere seconds had really gone by, but time had frozen when their eyes met.

"…Hope?" Lightning felt much smaller than she had in a long, long time as she raised her hand to his cheek. "Is that…" She glanced down to where her fingers traced his jawline, then back into his intense gaze. "Is it really you?"

Every tortured emotion Hope had felt when the two were apart; a thousand years of searching for her, _yearning_ for her; all of it burst forth when he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. He didn't even care that people were watching. They didn't matter right now. What mattered entirely was the slender body clutched desperately to his own, and the arms which tenderly returned his embrace. The hand that traced its way up his back and neck until fingers gently combed through his hair to soothe him as he broke down. The blessed relief that overcame him now that he was finally reunited with his partner.

"Hope…" Lightning shushed him affectionately, resting her cheek on his broad chest, which shuddered with every sharp inhale and broken exhale. "I'm here. We're together now."

**[end ch. 7]**

* * *

And there we have it! HEEEEEE! Feels. If it strikes your fancy, google the hotel I mention in the story. It really does remind me of Luxerion with its decor, so I couldn't help but use it in the story. I also reeeeally want to stay there someday. Like, if I ever win the lottery or something. :|

Please leave feedback! I adore reviews. Tell me what you liked! What you didn't like (but don't be an asshole about it)! What you're looking forward to, what you're dreading, what your favorite color is, if I effed up the French, whatever! I covet your input.

Chapter 8 will be up next week on Sunday, as scheduled! :) See you then!


	8. Chapter 8: Tell Me What I Did

Back with another chapter! Yay! Sorry this is a day late - my laptop has been incredibly temperamental as of late and I ended up having to transfer at least this chapter onto my work computer until I can make my personal computer behave. Anyway, here it is! My eternal thanks to RainbowSerenity for putting up with being my beta and me sending her random scenes in emails in their roughest of forms. :3 (Hopefully she thinks it's worth it! There was something about brain asploding so I'm taking that as a good sign.)

As always, chapters are first posted on my tumblr ( .com), so follow me there if you'd like to see them first (and if you'd also like to see all the funny and/or fandom shit I reblog).

Now then - on with the show.

* * *

**Chapter VIII: Tell Me What I Did**

Lightning hadn't stopped smiling for the past hour. Her sister and Snow were back together, happily chattering away about anything that came to mind, including potential wedding venues ("Snow, I'm fairly sure Notre Dame isn't a viable option unless you're royalty or something"). The joy radiating from Serah was contagious, but what really had Lightning so happy was the fact that Hope was walking next to her, so close that he bumped into her shoulder so many times that she had lost count. Their first order of business after leaving the bank had been to take the boys to buy their own cell phones. The moment Hope's had been activated, Lightning had given him his parents' number and, with emotion similar to that displayed during his reunion with Lightning, he spoke with them for at least twenty minutes, leaving them with the promise to be home the next day. Their lives were well on the way to being as they should, and she had never felt more content. A part of her actually feared how well things were going, since experience told her that, whenever she was her happiest, the shit was about to hit the fan. Regardless, she was determined to enjoy these moments while she had them and pushed her worries aside.

"Did you hear what I said, Light?"

Hope's question brought her out of her thoughts. "Huh? No, sorry. What were you saying?"

"Are you okay?" Hope's hand was on her shoulder opposite him as he gazed at her in concern. She had a feeling that wasn't what he had said just before she snapped out of her introspection. "You were pretty zoned out there."

"Yeah, yeah," Lightning insisted, massaging her temple with the heel of her thumb as she cleared her mind. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"What about?"

"Just…" She paused, debating on telling him or just brushing it off. She decided on the latter for now. "It's nothing, really." When Hope's brow furrowed even more, she added, "Just kind of overwhelmed by how big this city is."

Hope straightened and relaxed to a point, but the downward curve of his mouth showed that he wasn't buying it. Thankfully, though, he let it go. "I know what you mean. It's been a long, long time since I've been in a city this spread out."

"Wasn't Academia pretty big?"

"Oh, it was huge - but not quite like this." Hope looked pointedly at Notre Dame as they passed by. "And certainly not as _old_ as this."

Lightning nodded, thinking of what she had assumed were Academian ruins she visited in the Wildlands of Nova Chrysalia compared to the towering Parisian architecture that somehow was just as old or older than said ruins, but in decidedly better shape. It mystified her as to how buildings so similar in composition could age so differently, even when Chaos was involved in the breakdown process. Then again, it also mystified her as to why Hope had not yet removed his hand from her shoulder, but she couldn't bring herself to mind... especially since she kind of _liked_ it. She looked up at Hope – still not used to having to do that – and examined his features as discreetly as she could while his attention was focused on their surroundings. Where his jawline had once been softer, it was now chiseled and strong. She could see the faintest hint of stubble gracing his chin, but for some reason, she doubted he ever let it grow out. His hair was only slightly longer now and not quite as wild, but the way he wore it made it appear shorter than it had been when he was a teenager and it still fell into his eyes if he laughed too hard. His eyes… _those _were the same as they'd always been. Full of wonder, full of life, but now clouded by the wisdom only experience can offer, and with something else she couldn't quite put her finger on as she stared into them.

Wait, _into_ them?

"Is there something on my face?" he inquired, brushing his hand across it.

Lightning felt her face grow warm and quickly shook her head. "You, um… got it."

"What was it?" Hope was grinning now, which only made Lightning's face even hotter. She scowled and looked stubbornly forward.

"I couldn't tell. Why do you think I was looking so closely?"

"I'm sure I have no idea." Lightning's eyes widened as she felt Hope squeeze her shoulder. "Couldn't be because you've never truly seen me like this or anything, certainly."

"Nope." Lightning wasn't sure how else to react. She had been caught staring, and a far more confident Hope than she had ever known was teasing her about it. Some partner. She had to admit, though, that she had relaxed entirely as he squeezed her briefly against his side as he laughed. His laughter was one of the most pleasant sounds she had ever heard, one she realized she never really _had _heard much in all their time together. She supposed she would let the teasing slide for now and just get her revenge when he least expected it.

"Sis, how do you feel about stopping here to eat?" Serah was watching her with a strange glint in her eye as she motioned to a quaint café settled between a hotel and a department store. There was a second floor to it, complete with a balcony for open air seating.

"What about that Carette place?"

"Eh, this place looks good. And it has a great view," Serah explained, looking out to where they could see the Eiffel Tower looming in the middle distance.

"Well, if we can eat up there," she said as she looked up to the balcony, "it looks perfect to me."

"Great! I'm starved," Snow bellowed, pulling a mirthful Serah along with him towards the café. Hope smiled down at Lightning, gesturing for her to go before him, and guided her as such with gentle pressure between her shoulders.

"After you," he insisted. Lightning nodded her thanks. With Hope very close behind, she followed Snow and Serah into the café.

* * *

"I wasn't expecting the food here to be so good," Hope admitted after wiping his mouth with the cloth napkin he had been provided.

"It's _Paris_! They're _known_ for the food here," Serah pointed out.

"I don't know," Lightning challenged. "Frog's legs? Caviar? _Snails?_" She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the memory of Snow slurping the latter out of shells. Hope couldn't help but smile as he watched her disdain. He felt a surge of warmth whenever she wrinkled her nose like that. And when she smiled. And when she let him sit closer to her. And when she-

"Hey, you don't know what you're missing!" Snow was reclining in his chair with his legs flopping to either side sipping from a glass of wine, his arm around the back of Serah's chair. Serah was sitting as properly as one might expect, nursing a glass of sparkling white wine. Even Lightning had opted for an after-dinner drink, but had chosen a semi-sweet cocktail. Hope was on his second, and final, beer. The four friends had spent the past hour and a half on the café balcony, reminiscing and taking full advantage of the time they had to relax together, and Hope had loved every moment of it. He thought he had known Lightning better than most, save Serah, but he had learned more about her in the time sitting on that balcony than he would have thought possible, thanks to Serah's insistence on telling as many embarrassing stories from their childhood as she could, much to Lightning's dismay.

"Ooh, do you remember the time Mom caught you in the middle of the store with a half-eaten candy bar?" Serah laughed suddenly, her wine sloshing dangerously in her glass as she rocked back.

"I'm not sure how you went from snails to candy bars," Lightning muttered.

Serah ignored her and continued with the story. "We were so young then, but Sis was as stubborn as always." Hope leaned back in his chair and glanced frequently at Lightning in his periphery as a tipsy Serah giggled her way through the memory. "We had both asked our mother if we could have a treat at the store, but I guess it was close to dinner or something because she said no, which she honestly didn't often do."

"To you," Lightning commented under her breath.

"So she turns around to pay the clerk for whatever we were buying at the time, and as we're about to walk out the door, Mom suddenly yells Sis's name – like, her _whole_ name – '_Claire Elise Farron!'_ so loud that the whole store just goes _completely silent_." Serah paused to collect herself as the giggling overwhelmed her ability to speak, and Hope again looked at Lightning - at Claire Farron - who was trying her best to look offended about the table's entertainment being at her expense, but unable to completely hide the the smirk behind her cocktail glass. "I remember I was afraid for her because I had _never_ seen Mom so mad. I mean, she was always so easy-going, always let us follow the path we wanted-"

"She let _you_ follow whatever path you wanted," Lightning muttered similarly to before. Hope was fairly certain he was the only one who had heard her both times.

"-But her face was _so_ red, and there's Sis, standing beside the shopping card with a half-eaten candy bar hanging out of her mouth, chocolate all over her face, and the most defiant look you could imagine!" Serah was doubled over at this point, no doubt picturing Lightning's face at the time.

"So, little miss Guardian Corps used to live a life of crime!" Snow chuckled, raising his glass in approval. "You would've fit right in with NORA."

Lightning abruptly slapped her hand loudly on the tabletop. "_Hah!_ I _knew_ you guys were stealing stuff!"

"Only the occasional part we needed to fix something if we couldn't afford it at the time." Snow shrugged. "And we always paid whoever it was we 'borrowed' from, even if it was a year later."

"Well I only stole _once_, as a kid. I'm not the kind of repeat offender NORA would have wanted."

"Oh, I don't know, Light," Hope found himself saying as he took a sip of his beer. "You've stolen something else before."

Lightning whipped around with an incredulous glare starkly contrasting the goofy grin on his face. "What do you mean I've stolen something else?"

"What about my-" Hope stopped short and his eyes widened as he realized exactly what he was about to say and _exactly _what the consequences of saying it out loud would likely be. He paled, sitting up straight and downing the rest of his beer.

"Your _what_, Hope?" Lightning demanded quietly. She didn't sound angry, per se… more indignantly curious as she leaned further into his personal space. "_What_ have I taken from you?"

"It's, uh, nothing, nevermind," he faltered, shrinking further into his chair as she advanced on him. He nearly spilled what little of his beer remained all over his front when she put her hand on his knee to brace herself, and stood up quickly. "I, uh…" he stammered, noticing how strangely they were looking at him. Well, all but Snow, who was in hysterics. "I'll… be right back," he muttered, and rushed into the safety of the restaurant. Escaping into the bathroom, he turned on the cold water and splashed his burning face with a handful of it. _Get a grip, Estheim._ He couldn't believe he had nearly let something like that slip so easily. And the cheese factor? '_You stole my heart, Light'? Really?_ He groaned into his hands as he dragged them along his eyes and cheeks, looking at himself in the mirror when he let them fall. His face wasn't red anymore, at least, but he felt like a fool. He had grown up. He was supposed to be more confident than this. Hell, he _was_ more confident than this. So why did it take just one touch from her to reduce him to the painfully shy, weak, nervous teenager he had been when he first met her?

Well, he knew why… but he wasn't prepared to confront her with that. He was certain _she_ wasn't ready for anything like that, if she even wanted something like that _with him_. Lightly slapping his cheeks as he straightened himself, he dried his face with a towel and resolved, for the time being at least, to ignore the way he felt when she was near. Or when she smiled. Or when she bumped against him. Or when she touched his leg. Or when he thought about her covered in chocolate.

…_Shit._

This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

* * *

The group had wandered the streets of Paris for some time after the sun had set, enjoying the way the city came to life with light. It reminded the three who had seen them of the nights in Yusnaan, and Hope found himself steadily relaxing after his near slip. Lightning had apparently sensed his unease and took it upon herself to joke with him as much as she could until he was back to normal, but he could tell there was something different about her interactions as well since they had left the café. Her laughter sounded just slightly forced, and after she would nudge him to bring him out of his thoughts, she would put the slightest increase in distance between them. Nothing anyone watching would notice, but painfully obvious to him. He would definitely need to talk to her about everything… but later.

"We should probably get back to our hotels, you guys," Serah finally said, stifling a yawn. "Our train leaves early."

"Don't you want to stay an extra day?" Snow asked. "It's not like we're in any hurry to find each other."

"Yeah, but Hope hasn't seen his parents yet," Lightning reminded him, "and they're expecting us tomorrow."

Hope smiled warmly at the idea that reuniting the Estheims was Lightning's first priority.

"Oh, that's right." Snow snapped his fingers in recollection. "In that case, I'll grab us a cab." Hope wasn't sure Snow knew exactly how to hail a cab, but it became obvious that he didn't when he waved his arm wildly and stepped out in front of the first taxi that came their way. The driver seemed less than amused when he rolled down the window after screeching to a halt.

"_Merde!_ Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he shouted in a thick Parisian accent.

"It's all good, man! I don't really get hurt-"

"Sorry, sir," Serah apologized quickly. "We're not from here."

"It doesn't matter where you're from," the driver grumbled, "as it's stupid pretty much everywhere to jump out in front of oncoming traffic!"

"But I heal reeeeally fast, it's fine!"

"He's had a little too much wine," Lightning lied hastily, scowling at Snow while Hope watched Snow with concern. "Could we please get a ride to our hotels?"

"Sure, madame. Don't want Monsieur Superman trying to fly off the _Arc de Triomphe_ next. Where are you headed?"

"_Le Royal Monceau-Raffles_," both Hope and Lightning answered simultaneously, then laughed.

"You're kidding," Hope chuckled with a shake of his head.

"_Some_thing out there was making it really easy for all of us to find each other," Lightning marveled. The group piled into the car with Hope taking the front passenger seat and the others crammed in the back. The trip only took about ten minutes, and the driver was kind enough to point out some of the more popular sites along the way. Once they had reached their hotel, Hope quickly paid the driver with yet another apology for the way Snow had nearly caused an accident, then jogged to catch up with the others, who were already inside. Snow and Serah were stepping into one of the elevators, but Lightning was talking to the concierge about something. He opted to join her to give the reunited couple some time to themselves.

Not that he wouldn't have chosen Light's companionship first anyway, but that was beside the point.

"The earliest train leaves at seven a.m., but you don't have to be out of your rooms until eleven," the concierge was explaining.

"Trying to decide when to head out?" Hope inquired as he reached the desk. Lightning nodded to him and turned her attention back to the concierge.

"The trip to Strasbourg is several hours," she told him, "so I thought we should all get out of here earlier rather than later to make it back to your parents' house at a reasonable hour."

"I would recommend taking the eleven a.m. train, Madame," the concierge suggested. "It will allow you plenty of time to rest, some time for breakfast, and you won't have to rush out early. We can have transport waiting to take you to the station at ten."

"That would be fine, thank you," Hope accepted on their behalf, to which the concierge nodded and set about making the arrangements. Hope again gestured for Lightning to move ahead of him toward the elevator,and he relished in the smile she tried to hide from him as she did so. He refrained from guiding her by touch this time, but still followed just as closely.

Once in the elevators, the two leaned against the mirrored wall together and rode in a pregnant silence. Hope kept glancing at Lightning in his periphery, trying not to stare at the gentle stretch of her neck as she rested her head against the wall with her eyes closed. He also tried not to imagine how soft the skin there probably was, because that just made him wonder how soft _all_ of her skin was.

_Damnit, Hope, stop it._

Hope then forced himself to train his eyes on the ceiling, swallowing hard when he noticed that it, too, was mirrored, and gave him a very clear view down the front of Lightning's blouse.

_Feet it is_, he resigned, paying very close attention to the way he fiddled with the knot of his old wristband. He had to force himself not to sigh in relief when the elevator doors opened to aid his escape. He was so entirely distracted with trying to not be distracted by Lightning that he didn't notice she had stopped in front of a door and was looking at him with an eyebrow raised mischievously.

"I didn't know you were staying in this room, too." Hope's eyes widened as she smirked and shook her head in amusement. "What has gotten into you, Hope? This isn't Lake Bresha."

"No, no. Sorry." Hope rubbed the back of his neck and met her scrutinizing gaze. "I've just been thinking is all."

"About what I stole from you," Lightning said quietly after a few moments, casting her eyes downward. Hope stiffened, and she noticed. "I know what you were talking about, and it's okay," she continued quietly. "My actions robbed you of a proper childhood after your mom died, and I'm sorry."

Well, that's not what he had been expecting. "What?"

"Back in the Vile Peaks, and the Gapra Whitewood, and the sewers of Palumpolum. I should have protected you better, but instead, I pushed you to grow up too soon, just like I did to myself after _my_ parents died. I demanded you fight for yourself. I coerced you right into a plot for revenge that very nearly got you killed." The pain and guilt in her voice cut straight through him and he started to move closer to insist she was mistaken, but she held up a hand to stop him. "And then I'm told that the only reason you were ever captured by Bhunivelze was because that bastard used my image to lure you into his trap?" Hope noticed she was trembling, but he was frozen to the spot. How did she even know about that? No one else knew. He hadn't told _anyone_. Partially because he didn't want anybody thinking he was crazy, but also because he found such comfort in seeing her there, even though he knew it wasn't really her. He opened his mouth to tell her as much, but she continued on, shaking all the while. "I messed up, Hope. I left you behind. I promised I would protect you, and I meant to! I told you I would protect you with my life, but instead, you've only been hurt, even almost killed, because of me, over and over _and over_." Her fists were clenched at her sides so tightly that her knuckles were even whiter than the rest of her hands. He had noticed some time ago that her hands were noticeably paler than the rest of her skin, presumably due to her tendency to wear gloves. "I never wanted any harm to come to you and I'll never forgive myself for being the cause of so much of it. I'm sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry, Hope."

The way her voice broke when she said his name that final time is what did it. Gone was the insecurity he felt regarding his feelings for her. Gone was any awkwardness he hadn't been able to shake to that point. The only thing he felt now was an overwhelming need to absolve her of her guilt. He took her into his arms and held her close, kissing the top of her hair as he whispered words of encouragement and comfort, desperate to make her understand how nothing was her fault. How his life had been richer for her involvement in it. How he had been forever changed for the better thanks to her trust and companionship. How he never felt more complete than when she was here with him. He immediately shut down any protest she came up with, assuring her that he would be the first to tell her if he blamed her for anything that had gone wrong in his life. He reminded her of his initial attitude towards Snow, and her weak, but genuine laugh in the midst of her emotional turmoil warmed him straight to his core.

"I'm sorry," she murmured finally, pushing back slightly to wipe the tears off her cheek. "I really don't ever do this anymore."

"What, allow yourself to be human?" he teased gently, swiping his thumb across her jaw to catch some tears she had missed. "I had my own moment earlier. In _public_, no less." He chuckled in self-deprecation and drew her back to his chest. "I think we've both earned the right to break down at least once."

"I hate crying," she grumbled. "It makes my face blotchy and I always end up with a pounding headache."

"I can't do much about the headache, but you look beautiful, Light." He meant it. Yes, her face was unevenly red, her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was slightly damp with perspiration, but the red made the blue of her eyes even brighter, and the smell of her shampoo and something distinctly _her_ emanated from the dewy, tousled mane his fingers couldn't help but comb through. He grinned when she tried halfheartedly to push him away.

"You're lying. But thanks."

"You don't trust my judgment?" Hope brought a hand to his chest melodramatically and clutched the overlying fabric. "You wound me, Light."

This time she actually did push him away. "You _have_ been acting weird all evening," she smirked. "You sure I got rid of all of that god complex with that knife of mine?"

Hope froze, but for once it wasn't at the mention of the deity who had inflicted so much pain. Hope reached into the pocket in his jacket lining and withdrew the treasured switchblade he had just remembered and held it out to its astonished owner. "Here."

"But… where did you-"

"It was in one of my pouches when I woke up," Hope explained, never taking his eyes off of her face as she gingerly traced the edges of the blade with her fingertips. "I don't know why _I_ ended up with it, but I've kept it close at all times since I found it just in case I ran into you." She still seemed hesitant to pick it up, even though they were both sure it was hers. "Go on, Light," he urged gently. "Take it." She met his gaze briefly, then slowly wrapped her fingers around the hilt of the blade, lifted it, and brought it to her chest. Then her eyes shot up and she turned to open her door. Hope blinked when she motioned for him to follow her inside the room.

"I just remembered, I have something for you, too." Hope lingered nervously by the door and watched as she retrieved a suitcase from beside the bed nearest the window.

"Wait… isn't that _my_ suitcase?" he realized as he noticed the familiar shape and color.

"Yeah, yeah, but that's not what I'm talking about." Lightning opened the case on her bed and motioned enthusiastically for Hope to join her. Once he saw what she had been alluding to, he brightened considerably.

"My Airwing!"

"Your dad thought you might like to have it now," Lightning explained, watching affectionately as Hope examined the old boomerang, opening and closing it with sharp flicks of his wrist, testing the balance of his swing in a slow and calculated manner. She grinned as she realized this was probably what it looked like when he first got it.

"Thanks, Light!" Hope exclaimed, hugging her and lifting her off the floor.

"Gods, Hope, put me down," she laughed, pushing away from him again and straightening her clothing as she shook her head in amusement. "Boys and their playthings…"

"I will have you know, Miss _Claire Elise_ _Farron_, that the Airwing is _the_ preferred tool amongst hunters and sportsmen alike," Hope recited with exaggerated dignity.

"Got that off the box, did you?" she smirked, arms folded across her chest. Hope made a face at her that was entirely out of place on a man in his later twenties, at which Lightning scoffed, and pocketed the boomerang. The look on Lightning's face suddenly turned to one of disdain as she glanced at the other bed in the room. "I wonder if Serah is planning on coming back to the room tonight."

Hope laughed when he saw her nose wrinkle at what he was sure was going through her mind at that moment. "Keep in mind that they _have _been separated for hundreds of years, Light."

"Ugh. Don't remind me." She paused and abruptly found her fingers very interesting. "Are you sharing a room with Snow?

_Say yes, say yes, say yes! …_NO_, she can tell when you're lying, you idiot!_

"No," Hope admitted, ignoring the disappointment pitting in his stomach. "We have adjoining rooms, though. It's just one door that really separates them."

"Oh."

The two stood there together saying nothing and avoiding eye contact long enough to cross the line into awkward silence. Hope could barely stand it.

"I guess," he stammered, "I'll just go on to my room now and hope the walls are thick."

Lightning groaned and threw a pillow at him. "I don't even want to think about my little sister doing anything like that."

"What? They're two consenting adults who love each other and have hundreds of years of frustration built up-"

Another pillow flew at him, bouncing off his arm. "Out with you, Hope Nolan Estheim." She had emphasized every syllable in his name.

He tossed the pillow back at her as another taken from an armchair in the far corner of the room hurtled past his shoulder. "I wonder if _they_ say each other's entire name when they're in the middle of-"

"OUT!"

"Okay, okay!" he laughed, ducking as yet another pillow breezed by his temple. "Geez, Light, where are you even getting all these pil-"

Lightning silenced him by shoving her final pillow in his face. She maneuvered him until he was leaning on the wall next to the door and reached for the handle just as Hope managed to pull the pillow away from his mouth. He laughed and leaned toward her as seductively as he could manage without cracking up.

"Look, _Claire_, if you didn't want to be left out of the fun, you could have just asked me instead of forcing me against the wall…"

"Good _night_, Hope." And with a playful smirk at Hope's defeated expression, Lightning closed the door and left him standing in the hall. He continued staring at the door for a few moments, then grinned as the warmth inside of him threatened to overtake him completely. He would have liked to stay, sure, but more just to have her nearby. For now, he was content to know it was only a couple of floors that separated them. Maybe one day, it would only be a couple of inches. Maybe less.

* * *

A quiet, but insistent buzzing awoke Lightning from a fitful sleep. She had been running through a long, dark corridor flanked by piles of bones she instinctively knew were those of all the people she had killed. It was when the walls had begun to collapse in on her that the noise had aroused her from her nightmare. Relieved, but still a bit disoriented, Lightning blindly reached for her phone resting on the nightstand between the beds and glanced at the clock. _1:30 A.M._ "What the hell…" Squinting against the bright glare of the screen, she unlocked the phone and saw a text message waiting from Hope's new number.

'_I'm really sorry if I'm waking you up… but this door really isn't that thick and if I hear your sister's name one more time, I swear.'_

Lightning was torn between laughing and being utterly horrified, but shot off a quick response: '_Come on up.'_

**[end ch. 8]**

* * *

That's it for this week! I've got this story completely written through the end of chapter 12 as of this moment, so we're set pretty much on schedule for at least the next month. WHOO. See you on Sunday! (Barring my computer having another temper tantrum, anyway, but my plan is to prepare for that so it doesn't delay another chapter.)


	9. Chapter 9: Errant Dog

Another Sunday, another chapter. Would have posted this earlier today, but I wanted to make sure I was totally happy with it before doing so. Now that I am, up it goes. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone following along so far, both on here and on tumblr. I know it's been a bit slow at times (and that's been deliberate), but things are going to start picking up a bit here, so keep reading! Please leave me some feedback if you have any. Constructive criticisms, flailing, theories, whatever - I thrive on it, and I do respond to everyone (logged in, anyway) who leaves a review. Each follow, favorite, and review (even you guests - I see you there!) makes my day!

Eternal thanks to my beta, RainbowSerenity, without whom I would surely fall behind on this story. :D Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter IX: Errant Dog**

Lightning stirred as her eyes fluttered open. She tried to sit up and stretch, but something was weighing her down. _Hope_. She smiled down at the top of his head, which was resting heavily on her shoulder as he snoozed away. She closed her eyes again and rested her cheek against his hair as the rhythmic rock of the train jostled them gently.

After Hope had escaped the all-too-thin walls of his room neighboring Snow's and joined Lightning in her room, the two of them had stayed up for hours talking about their guilt, their fears, the fact that both of them were still having nightmares, and Snow's mysterious affliction.

_"__I don't know if it's something we all have and just don't know it, or if it's just Snow's thing," Hope mused._

_"__It's a _lot_ like the ability I had as the savior," Lightning pointed out. "And I haven't felt anything like the savior since I woke up here."_

_Hope frowned. "Ideally, I could stop by a hospital just to see if anyone else is able to heal as quickly as he did. I'd like to avoid injuring myself on purpose just to test a theory."_

_Lightning hugged her knees even closer as she mulled over what she was about to suggest. "I could use my knife," she said almost too quietly to hear._

_"__What?"_

_"__My knife," she repeated, louder this time, as she took hold of the blade laying on the nightstand next to her phone. "We can cut my arm and see how fast it heals."_

_"__Light, are you insane?!" Hope jumped off his bed and grabbed for the switchblade, but Lightning held it out of his reach. "We're not using you as a guinea pig!"_

_"__Yes, we are," she insisted, moving to draw the blade, but Hope closed his hand over hers and the knife before she could open it. She glared at him as she struggled to free herself. "Hope, let go!"_

_"__Absolutely not." To his credit, Hope looked every bit as stubborn as she did. It was strange, she realized, to see so much of herself in the man she first knew as a boy. She softened, but only just, before steeling her nerves again and pushing back against him. He only put more of his weight on her, until he was straddling her and holding the arm with the knife against the bed._

_"__Hope, get off of me," she grunted, struggling both against his strength and how unexpectedly strong he'd become._

_"__Not until you give me the knife." Lightning's glare faltered almost entirely when she finally understood that he was _pleading_ with her. He had always worn his heart on his sleeve; it was one of the things that made Hope, Hope… but the intensity with which he now stared her down, while not an unpleasant gaze, made her a little uncomfortable. Frustrated, defeated, and unwilling to distress him further, she stopped fighting him, relaxed her grip on the blade, and submitted. Hope's expression went from one of desperation to relief, and then embarrassment, as he took the knife from her and jumped back onto his bed in a blur. Lightning sat up, brooding, and kept her eyes trained on the blade as he flicked it open and closed like he did as a kid, completely oblivious to how red his face was._

_"__We really need to check this out," she muttered angrily. "What if something's really wrong with him and he's in there with my siste- Hope, what are you doing!?"_

_He had removed the scarf he always wore around his wrist and was drawing the open blade against the skin on top of his forearm. Blood immediately began to flow. "Superficial laceration," he told her, his calmness noticeably forced. "Nothing that will kill me if I don't heal quickly."_

_"__You were never the savior, Hope! If anybody should be testing this, it's someone who actually _had _the same ability Snow has now."_

_"__I may not have been the savior, but for a long time, I was a god." Lightning stiffened and said nothing. Yes, she _had_ been the savior and the intended replacement for the goddess Etro, but Hope had been remolded over the course of nearly two-hundred years to the form Bhunivelze had chosen as his new vessel - one meant to better complement her own, as the god had intended to take ownership of both her mind _and_ her body throughout eternity. Hope's soul hadn't changed while trapped inside Bhunivelze, but he had just as much reason to think he was worth testing as she did. __With a sigh, __Lightning ignored the chill rising within her and focused on tending to the _real_ Hope. __Her silence continued as she got up to grab __a damp washcloth from the bathroom and returned to his side, kneeling on the floor in front of him. She took his arm in both of her hands and carefully inspected the cut he had made. It wasn't enough to need stitches, but only just._

_"__You still shouldn't have…" she murmured as she gingerly cleaned the blood that had run down his arm before placing the cloth over the cut and applying pressure. "At least not so deep."_

_"__It'll be fine," he insisted, inhaling sharply when she pressed harder in an effort to stop the bleeding. "It's only a few centimeters long. Glorified scratch."_

_"__That's more than a scratch. You're lucky you don't need stitches." Lightning's harsh tone surprised even her. "Don't _ever _put yourself in harm's way just to make a point again. Especially when I'm sitting right here." She made a point to avoid his gaze as she tended his wound. Never had she wished for magic as much as she did right then. Lightning could tell by the way his hand was twitching and balling into a fist that the cut hurt, but she couldn't help but press a little harder than was actually necessary. "Idiot," she scoffed affectionately._

_Hope chuckled. "I promise never to use myself as a test subject again."_

_"__I will make damn sure you regret it if you do."_

Lightning looked down and brushed her thumb over the orange fabric tied in its usual place on his wrist, wrapped a little bit wider to hide the bandage she had placed on his arm. Upon checking the cut this morning, it looked better, but wasn't totally gone like it would have been on Snow, who, to his credit, ripped Hope a new one when he found out about the 'experiment'. Serah had nearly burst into tears, yelling something to the tune of "thank you for talking my sister out of that but _if you ever do that again…!"_

He deserved the rest he was getting now after a morning like that.

"Attention passengers – we will reach _Bahnhof Strasbourg_ in five minutes. Those getting off in Strasbourg, please prepare for departure. Those continuing on, please remain in your seats to allow for efficiency of loading and unloading."

"Hope," Lightning nudged her dozing companion. "Hope, wake up." She rolled her eyes more in affection than annoyance when he only curled further into her side, muttering something about more time. "Hope," she repeated louder, this time pushing him upright.

"Ungh…" Hope finally sat up of his own accord, though not without protest, and rubbed his eyes until they adjusted to the light. "There yet?"

"Just about," she answered, gathering what belongings she could before leaving her seat. "The announcement just said we'll arrive in five minutes."

Hope exhaled loudly and flopped back into a reclining position. "Two more minutes then."

"Get _up_," Lightning laughed, poking his side repeatedly until he finally gave in and sat up straight.

"_Fine_," he huffed. "I'm _awake_."

"Good. I wasn't looking forward to dragging you off the train. Or, better yet, getting Snow to carry you off." Lightning smirked as the suddenly much livelier man reached over to collect his things, standing before she did. He grabbed her suitcase from the overhead rack and handed it to her before retrieving his own.

"Oh, good, you're both awake," came Snow's booming voice as he and Serah walked into their car. "I was afraid I was gonna have to carry you both off the train."

"See?" Lightning said smugly.

"I'd sooner roll out of here," Hope said flatly.

"I'd pay to see that."

"You can't afford this."

"I'm sorry, did you _see_ how much is in my account?"

"If you two are quite finished posturing," Serah grinned, blissfully relieved of her overpacked burden thanks to Snow, "the doors are opening."

Lightning and Hope followed closely after Serah and Snow, glancing at each other surreptitiously until the latter two were out of earshot.

"I could totally afford you," Lightning quipped, catching him off guard with the gentle shove she gave him, and he stumbled just slightly, righting himself easily as he grinned.

"Oh, come on, Light. For you, I'm totally free."

"For anything?"

Hope met her eyes squarely with his own. "Anything."

Whether he was being serious or just trying to psych her out, she couldn't tell, but she smirked and tossed her suitcase to him, causing him to nearly drop everything. "Great! You carry this, then, since you got more sleep than I did on the train."

"You're a child," he pouted, the irony of doing so not lost on either of them as she sauntered ahead of him victoriously. Lagging behind to adjust the extra load, he openly admired the way she held her head high and her shoulders back, yet relaxed; the way her arm swung gently at her side as the other clutched the strap of her purse; the gentle, and rhythmic sway of her hips as she walked. The image of her hips swaying against his hands came to mind unbidden, but as long as she didn't notice him staring…

"See something you like there, kid?" Snow had noticed, now that he and Light had caught up with them. Great.

"No," he replied a little too quickly, feeling his face warm as Lightning turned around to face him. "Just… zoned out for a minute."

"Your face is all red, Hope," Lightning observed as she came closer. "You didn't really have to carry my suitcase if it added too much weight-"

"It's _not _too heavy," he insisted as he straightened for effect. "I can manage a couple of bags just fine, thank you."

Snow grinned and opened his mouth to join the fray, but a look from Serah told him to stay out of it for the time being. She, too, had seen Hope staring at her sister, and had already long suspected he harbored deeper feelings for her than probably either of them truly realized, even back during her travels with Noel. She also knew well enough that forcing the issue would only drive the two of them apart, and that was the last thing she wanted for Hope and her sister. Snow looked to her in question and she shook her head as she placed a hand on his arm, whispering that she would explain later.

Serah felt a strange mixture of relief and melancholy as she watched them bicker over who would carry the bags. If anybody deserved a happy ending after everything that had happened, it was those two.

Hope – the boy who had begged his friends to leave him behind so they wouldn't get hurt, only to be gifted with his eidolon and a vow that his friends would never abandon him; the man with friends who ended up breaking that vow against their will who spent his days finding a way to bring them back, only to be spirited away by a selfish, malevolent god who decided torturing him with the image of the woman he had been searching for was exactly the right way to break him down over 169 years back into the body of a boy with the mind of an adult, forced to stand by helplessly as his partner and closest friend was deceived by his own image just as he had been by hers.

Her sister, Claire – the emotional girl forced into a premature stoic adulthood to protect what she loved, thrown into a seemingly hopeless battle against fate and stolen away in the moment of triumph by a vulnerable goddess who was as good as merciless; the young woman guilted into fighting the same battle over and over, only to fail after watching her little sister die and going willingly into a centuries-long crystal sleep as a result, just to wake up an empty shell with an impossible mission, guided by the one she thought would never deceive her, pulled in every direction without any real source of comfort except the illusion of her partner and going into the final battle with naught but a message and a moogle the real Hope had sent her once he had been cast aside.

Two individuals thrown together by destiny, enduring a thousand years of more hardship each than the rest of their company combined. How they were both able to smile at all after all that was beyond her. After all, she had awoken from her own crystal stasis to be reunited with the ones she loved, only to find her sister had inexplicably disappeared while her back was turned. She had been unable to find joy in anything after that, going as far as to send her fiancé on what, for all she knew at the time, was a wild goose chase. She had come so close to losing everything then, and it was only because Lightning had sent her Noel and Mog that she had found any real reason to be. The only thing she had managed to do for her sister was strengthen her sword and shield before she faced Bhunivelze, and that had only barely given her an edge in the fight against him.

She'd been so stupid that day she wandered into the Vestige, and everything she had done from then on resulted in everything going to hell. _Well, no more_, she resolved, her hands fisting at her sides. Her sister was going to be happy, and so was Hope. Whether their happiness was in each other or not remained to be seen, but she was going to make sure they were given every opportunity to find out for themselves.

"Earth to Serah," Snow chimed, waving his hand in front of her face and startling her out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"You made the plans as far as getting back to Alsace," Lightning said, apparently for the second time judging by her tone. "Are we renting a car, or are we being picked up, or…"

"Oh! Sorry," Serah laughed weakly, wringing her hands together. "I told Bartholomew we'd be here around dinner time."

"But it's only four-thirty," Hope pointed out after glancing at a nearby clock.

"I know. That was intentional," Serah grinned as she pulled out her phone. "We're going to surprise them." She pressed the screen and held the phone to her ear as she waited, smiling when she heard the voice pick up on the other end. "Hey Sazh, it's Serah. Can you do me a huge favor? I promise I have the _best_ way to pay you back this weekend."

* * *

"There's a turn coming up on the right in less than a mile," Hope told Lightning, who was at the wheel of the car they had borrowed from Sazh. She had insisted on driving as she and Serah were the only ones with any experience doing so thanks to Bartholomew. Serah had volunteered Hope to navigate from the front passenger seat and he readily agreed, both to spend the trip next to Light and to avoid Snow's abysmal talent with directions. He paid close attention to the road and GPS on his phone so as to not miss any turns, but on the longer stretches between them, he watched Lightning relax into the role of chauffeur. He had overheard her confessing to Sazh her uncertainty about driving that far on her own when her only experience amounted to maybe ten minutes on a straightaway, but Sazh had reassured her easily and Hope made every effort to help her feel as in control as possible by giving her plenty of advance notice before each change in direction. He was pleased that, only fifteen minutes into their trip, she seemed completely at ease behind the wheel. She was even participating in the conversation Serah was having with Snow here and there and her knuckles had returned to their normal color.

"Maybe we should just build our own house," Snow was saying again, "instead of trying to track down the one we have set aside."

"Assuming any of us even _has_ one set aside," Lightning added with a glance in the rearview mirror.

"But we should all have somewhere with all our stuff, shouldn't we?" Serah had been insisting on looking into homes for them, and using Hope's parents as her example, argued that there had to be residences already in place for each of them to call their own.

"Perhaps," Hope chimed in, pointing out their next turn to Lightning. "But, if you think about it, none of us have really had a place to call home in centuries. It's entirely possible we _don't_ have places prepared for us here."

"Maybe that was deliberate," Lightning mused as she corrected after making her turn, glancing at her sister in the rearview again. "It's not like we've had much choice in anything in forev-"

"Sis, watch out!"

Lightning snapped her eyes back to the road ahead just as the tail end of a small pack of wolves ran across the road and slammed on the brakes, closing her eyes as she realized she had reacted too late to avoid them.

But there was no impact. There wasn't even the sound of brakes squealing in protest. The only thing she could hear was panicked breathing beside her. She opened her eyes slowly to find that the car, the wolves, the birds flying overhead, even the two in the backseat, had frozen still. Only she remained in motion… and Hope, who was staring at his outstretched hands in horrified wonder.

"What… how?" Lightning reached out to touch Hope's arm, but he stopped her with a violent shake of his head.

"Don't, Light," he blurted out, still staring at his hands as he tried to calm his panic. "I don't know what's going on."

But within seconds of being surrounded by the familiar energy, _she_ did. "It's chronostasis, Hope," she exhaled in her realization. "You can cast Chronostasis."

"I figured as much," he replied, trying to stay calm. "I'm not sure why only you and I are unaffected by it, though."

"Well, with you, I get it. But me? They're statues back there," she exclaimed as she gestured to the backseat. When Hope didn't respond as he concentrated on his hands, Lightning unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door.

"Light, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to move the wolves out of the way," she stated simply as she stepped out of the car. The air was crackling around her as she moved through it, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It caused a sort of weightlessness she was immensely grateful for as she floated around to the front of the vehicle to move the furry obstacles off the road.

"Hurry, Light, I… I don't know how long the effects of this are going to last," Hope called from inside the car. She could hear an edge of panic creeping back into his voice and picked up the pace. After moving the last of the wolves out of the way, she jumped back into the car and strapped herself back in before assuming the exact same position she had been in before time stopped.

"Okay, Hope, I'm ready." Nothing happened, and she turned her attention from the road back to Hope, her eyes widening when she noticed the pain in his twisted features and sweat dripping from his brow. "Hope!"

"L…Light…" he managed through clenched teeth. "Can't… need… help me-"

Her hand shot out to grab his arm, and a shock so powerful it caused both of them to cry out for several seconds coursed through them at the contact. Suddenly, the world sprang back to life and she barely managed to get control of the car again, turning into a spin that brought the car safely to a stop on the side of the road.

"…Wow, nice driving, Sis!" Snow praised once he'd gotten his bearings, lightly punching the back of her seat. Lightning was still buzzing from the shock she and Hope had just gotten, and a glance in her periphery told her Hope, who was bent forward with his hands against the dashboard, was too.

"Did we miss them?" Serah worried, craning her neck to look around the car.

"I… yes, I think so," Hope croaked, pushing himself back into his seat with his eyes closed while taking deep breaths to calm himself. "There's no sign them anywhere."

Lightning caught his eye once he had reopened them and the two exchanged looks of concern, to which Snow and Serah were thankfully oblivious. She really didn't want to discuss what had just happened. Not yet, anyway. She and Hope would be up late talking about it and was sure he had resigned himself as well to another night without much sleep. Her face fell as she shakily steered the car back onto the road and got them back on their way. _Sometimes I really hate when I'm right…_

* * *

The last half hour of the drive hadn't put Lightning any more at ease with the latest development in their lives in the new world, but both she and Hope had moved past it enough to where they could feel the excitement of seeing the elder Estheims reunited with their son. Serah grew more and more restless as the minutes and miles passed, and even Hope was fidgeting in his seat now that they had taken the final turn onto the road leading directly to his parents' home. Lightning couldn't help but smile at the eager look on his face and how his hand rested on the handle of the door. It wouldn't have shocked her if he jumped out of the car as soon as the house was in view.

"Snow, what's the matter?" Serah asked suddenly. Lightning glanced in her rearview mirror just in time to see the pensive look the large man quickly masked with a grin.

"Nothing's wrong, babe. Just… got a cramp in my leg from sitting back here for so long."

Lightning trained her eyes back on the road as the Estheim residence appeared in the near distance, but peeked back at Snow again to see the worried expression reappear once the house had come into view. She frowned sympathetically once she realized what was probably bothering him.

Turning into the driveway and stopping the car abruptly about halfway up to avoid Hope jumping out of a moving vehicle, Lightning hopped out of the car and hurried after him with Serah close behind. He was already knocking on the door by the time the two of them had caught up. As the sound of rushed footsteps echoed from inside the house, Lightning looked up to see Hope's eyes shining as he stared straight into the door as if willing it to open on its own. She squeezed his arm in support and saw him swallow hard and smile anxiously.

"Honey, don't worry about that right now, we don't have to leave for another hour," came Nora's voice from inside the house. Lightning felt Hope begin to tremble and squeezed his arm again, but she let go when she heard the knob click. The door swung open to reveal Hope's mother shaking her head in amusement as her husband rushed by behind her before turning her attention to her visitors. Her eyes widened as they focused on the young man standing shyly before her.

"Hey, Mom," he greeted, his voice thick with emotion. Nora stood still in the doorway for only a moment before rushing forward and throwing her arms around him as he fell to his knees.

"Oh, my sweet boy…" she cried, stroking his hair as tears ran down her face. Hope was unabashedly sobbing, holding her as if his life depended on it. Serah had gone back to the car when she noticed Snow had hung back and was rummaging around in the trunk, but Lightning stood to the side, leaning against the doorframe. "I have missed you so, so much…"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Hope managed as he cried into her shoulder. "I should have been brave and fought with you… I should have kept you safe."

"Oh stop," she laughed through her tears, pulling back and tapping on his forehead. "It has always been _my _job to protect _you_. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Nora, who-" Bartholomew had returned to the door and, upon seeing his wife and son kneeling there, gathered them into a firm embrace. He pulled back and smiled proudly, and then looked up to Lightning, catching her off guard. "Thank you, Lightning. Thank you for bringing him home to us."

"My pleasure," she replied warmly. She knew how they felt and was overjoyed that they were finally back together, and though she would deny it if asked, she found herself blinking back tears of her own as she stood guard over their reunion. She smiled at each of them, lastly Hope. The intensity of the look he was giving her made her blush, but she didn't break eye contact as she returned it.

"Hey," Hope said after several moments once Nora and Bartholomew had released him. "Where did Serah and Snow get to?"

"They're by the car," Lightning informed him, waving the two of them over when she caught Serah's eye. Her sister only shook her head before turning back to Snow. She appeared to be arguing with him about something.

"What's going on?" Bartholomew wondered, looking to Hope for answers, who only shrugged in response.

"I think…" Lightning began unsteadily, "that Snow is afraid of seeing Nora."

"Me? Why on earth would he be afraid of me?"

Hope sighed as he hung his head in realization. "Because he still blames himself for your death." Lightning nodded to confirm his suspicions.

Nora blinked, watching Snow and scoffing as he turned his head quickly upon noticing her attention to avoid making eye contact. "Well, that's the silliest thing I've ever heard," she proclaimed before setting off toward the car with Bartholomew at her heels. Hope started to follow them, but Lightning held him back by the shoulder.

"Let him talk to her," she instructed gently, keeping her hand on his shoulder as she pushed off the wall to stand at his side. "He has trouble showing any emotion in a crowd."

Hope nodded and the two watched together from the porch as the Estheims approached Snow, whose arm was firmly grasped by Serah to keep him in place. They couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but Nora was clearly doing her best to reach Snow, who had just dropped to his knees with his head hung in shame. Serah was rubbing his back as Bartholomew clasped his shoulder, and Nora had crouched down in front of him, forcing him to face her head on. Lightning and Hope smiled when Nora threw her arms around Snow as one would a lost child, and after a few moments, he returned the gesture.

"I didn't know he still felt guilty about my mom," Hope murmured. Lightning leaned against him as she held his arm.

"There's a lot we all still feel guilty about," she reminded him, alluding to their discussion the night before. "Your parents had that same kind of talk with me when Serah and I first came here."

"Do you still feel guilty?" Hope asked.

"…Yes," she admitted, "but Nora has a way of making you feel like you can do no wrong."

Hope laughed quietly and extracted his arm from her grasp to wrap it around her shoulders, squeezing gently after he had done so. "Why do you think I was such a spoiled brat when you first met me?"

"You weren't _that_ bad," Lightning snorted.

"I really was," he grinned, "but I was made a better man because of you. In case I haven't said it enough… thanks."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Late that night, Hope and Lightning were huddled around the laptop on Hope's desk, doing their best to tune out the loud snoring coming from downstairs. Snow had offered to sleep on a lounge chair in the first floor sunroom out of respect for the Estheims and Lightning was set up in the guest room with Serah. Once her sister had dozed off, Lightning had crept to Hope's room, where he was awake waiting for her and already poking around on his computer.

"I don't know that we'll find anything on the Internet," he sighed in defeat, closing the search they had been toying with for the last hour.

"Agreed," she resigned, sitting on the edge of the desk and leaning forward to avoid hitting her head on the shelves mounted above it. Hope closed his laptop completely, leaning back in his chair as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Something is definitely not right here, though," Lightning continued. "Snow's crazy fast healing, you freezing time… two abilities I had as the Savior."

"And the way I felt while I was doing it…" Hope's face contorted at the memory. "I felt like I was literally on fire. If you hadn't touched my arm when you did-"

"But I did, so don't think about it," she interrupted.

"It's worth thinking about if whoever else happens to have abilities reacts the same way," he pointed out.

"Snow hasn't mentioned anything like that…"

"But Snow did his healing passively as he slept, so he likely wouldn't have noticed." Hope traced the cut hidden under his wristband absentmindedly as he spoke. "Something else to consider is that he _specifically_ has healing abilities. Even when I was at my worst physically, I never felt all that bad when casting those types of spells, other than getting tired."

"Me too," she agreed, wringing her hands in her lap. "He could be doing damage while he's healing himself without realizing it."

"Exactly," Hope confirmed, impressed that Lightning was following his train of thought. Not that it was unusual for her to do so, but he always found himself admiring her a little more when she was on the same wavelength.

"So since Chronostasis is such a complex power, that's probably why you were so heavily affected so quickly," she finished. "But it's nothing you haven't experienced before, right?"

"I was heavily exposed to it while in the Ark," he said as he closely examined his hands. "Time always stood still in there."

"For everybody else, at least." Lightning suddenly snapped her fingers in realization. "What if I wasn't affected by it here because I spent so much time in the Ark with you?"

Hope mulled over the theory for a moment. "That's an idea," he concurred. "It makes sense, in any case. What _doesn't_ make sense is why Snow and I have these extraordinary abilities in what was supposed to be a decidedly ordinary world."

"I wish I knew," she sighed. No matter how hard she wracked her brain, she couldn't come up with any explanation.

"Do you think maybe it's related to the dream states?" Hope suggested, confused when Lightning snorted in disdain.

"Can we _please_ give those a name or something?"

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know. I feel kind of stupid calling them 'dream states'."

Hope shook his head in amusement. "I don't see why not. Any ideas?"

"I'm terrible with naming things, Hope. I named a squirrel Phineas as a kid. That's no name for a rodent."

"Well, I named the new Cocoon after a god who ended up torturing me until he broke me down enough to possess me. Pretty sure I've got you beat."

Lightning scowled as she folded her arms across her chest. "You have a point." She thought about it for several moments until she had an idea. "Hey Hope, give me your phone."

"What for?"

"Because it's faster than booting up your laptop again, and mine is back in my room."

Hope pushed his chair back across the floor so he could grab his hand off the nightstand and pushed himself back towards his desk to hand it to Lightning already unlocked. "You're gonna pick some crazy name at random, aren't you." It was less a question than a statement.

"Close," she admitted as she pulled up a search engine, typed in the word 'dream', and scanned the text on the screen carefully. "Let's see here… hah, what about 'pipe dream'?"

"We're not high, Light."

"'Castle in the air'? 'Pie in the sky'? 'Head trip'? _'Incubus'?"_

"What in the world _is_ this website?"

Lightning held the phone up for him to see for himself. "Online thesaurus."

"Huh." Hope glanced over the relatively short list of words. Some of the synonyms for 'dream' were so bizarre… but one that wasn't so terrible caught his eye. "What about 'reverie'?"

Lightning turned the phone back around to look and squinted at the screen, shrugging as she locked the phone and handed it back to him. "Works for me," she said noncommittally. "Hell of a lot better than continuing to call it a 'dream state'."

"Okay, okay," Hope laughed. He was thankful for the tangent but sobered quickly as he returned to his theorizing. "So we can talk to each other in these… _reveries_," he began with a finger curled under his chin, "but we can't seem to discuss or determine each other's location."

"We can't physically see each other, either," Lightning added.

"And our voices are heard through our minds, not with our ears… almost like an inner monologue." Hope was gesticulating emphatically while he built up his theory, and Lightning found it strangely endearing. "I wonder, though, why _we_ didn't have any color in ours like Snow and Serah. Is it even significant?" He paused to brush his hair away from his eyes and grunted in frustration. "I wish I could remember talking to Noel."

"I'm not sure it would help any more than what we _can_ remember," Lightning said, stretching as she slid off the edge of his desk. "Don't beat yourself up about it. We'll find Noel before too long, and Fang and Vanille."

"Maybe Yeul will have some insight," Hope ventured as he switched off his desk lamp, stretching as well. "Hopefully she's actually with Noel so we can ask when we find him, wherever he is."

"Maybe." Lightning stifled a yawn, suddenly feeling what seemed like a week's worth of fatigue setting in. "I'm gonna go on to bed, I think…"

Hope nodded and opened the door for her. "You look like you haven't slept in days right now."

"Thanks a lot," she mumbled as she rubbed at a spot above her brow with the heel of her thumb, stumbling as the weariness threatened to overwhelm her. Hope caught her before she could fall over. "I don't know why I'm so tired all of a sudden…"

"Not a lot of sleep lately and you've been busy," Hope explained away as he guided her to the room she was sharing with Serah, dismissing her apologies for being a burden.

"You've had as much sleep as I have… or haven't," she nearly slurred in protest.

"I'm used to running on very little," he whispered as he pushed the guest room door open and half carried her to the other side of the room. He was glad she was already dressed for bed; that wasn't a task he felt comfortable helping with. _Yet, anyway…_

"Thanks, 'ope," she mumbled as she drifted off. Hope gently brushed her hair away from her eyes after he had settled her in the bed next to Serah and, in a moment he would later rationalize as sleep deprivation, cradled her cheek in his hand, leaned down, and ghosted his lips against her brow. He remained there, taking in the scent of her hair and the feeling of each breath she took as it breezed past his cheek. He only moved when he felt himself dozing off, not wanting to fall asleep more or less on top of her. He stood slowly and made his way silently out of the room, closing the door after one last look at her peacefully sleeping form.

* * *

Lightning's eyes flew open when she felt a vaguely familiar energy pressing in around her. Dark clouds swirling in every direction at once surrounded her, lapping uncomfortably at her skin like electrified waves. She shrank away from them as best she could, but she couldn't seem to move at all. That wasn't right… she had been able to in the dream she had shared with Hope, but in this one, she felt trapped. Something was very, very wrong, here…

_Savior._

Lightning twirled around in the blackened mists as she searched for the source of the voice, suddenly free of whatever had held her in place so relentlessly. She had recognized that voice almost immediately. "Yeul?"

_One of them, yes._

"One of… you're not Noel's Yeul?"

_I am not,_ this Yeul confirmed. _I am one of the many holding the Chaos at bay._

"…Wait," Lightning realized as she waved at the mists surrounding her. "This fog… this is Chaos!"

_It is, but it will not harm you. We are controlling it._

Lightning found that fact only marginally reassuring given the discomfort she felt every time she came in contact with it, but she did stop _actively_ trying to get it away from her. "How are we even talking right now? You're in the Unseen Realm with Caius, aren't you?"

_In a way, yes… but we have been watching over you. _All_ of you. We have seen the powers your friends have exhibited, and we know those which still lay dormant._

"What are you-"

_Listen closely, Savior. The power inside of them… it is not their own._

Lightning stared blankly into the darkness. "I… don't understand."

_Those abilities were not meant for your friends, and their bodies are unable to handle them. Thankfully, one has already found its way back to where it belongs before too much damage could be done._

Lightning felt her frustration growing at the continued lack of elaboration. "What? Back where? Who all has them? Who do the powers belong to?" She received no response. "Hello? Yeul?" Still there was nothing, and Lightning's frustration was quickly becoming panic as what Yeul was implying began to take shape in her mind. "Yeul, please! I need to know!"

Instead of a voice, a rush of chaotic air hit her square in the face, all but knocking her over. She recovered quickly, steeling herself against the force as she turned to face the direction from which it seemed to blow. Shielding her eyes from the winds, she gasped at the sight before her, no longer feeling the bite of the Chaos after going completely numb. There stood one of the many Yeuls, and behind her, looking exactly the same as the moment he had faded into the darkness, was none other than Caius Ballad. The Chaos was emanating from the pair like a flood, and the darker figure of the two smirked condescendingly.

"I think you already do," he said pointedly, his hand resting on Yeul's shoulder. "Warrior _goddess_."

Lightning raised an eyebrow curiously at the way he had emphasized his moniker for her and opened her mouth to question him, but wasn't afforded the opportunity. Just then, the Chaos burst forth with a renewed vigor, threatening to suffocate her as it lifted her in a violently swirling vortex. She flailed wildly into the nothingness, hoping for something – _anything_ – to grab onto, crying out in a panic for help she knew wouldn't come, and as the cataclysmic winds carried her up – or maybe they were pushing her down as direction meant little here – she heard the faintest voice rise out of the chaos.

"Be quick, Savior. If you do not help them soon…"

Then came Caius's voice, finishing for Yeul with words that froze the blood in her veins: "They'll be seeing me long before they should."

And then, everything went black.

**[end ch. 9]**

* * *

"THINGS AND STUFF ARE HAPPENING~" - _RainbowSerenity after reading this_

Yes. Yes they are.

See you next week!


	10. Chapter 10: Free Coffee

Well, damn, I _almost_ got this up while it was still Sunday! Today was far busier than anticipated and I ended up running a bunch of errands I had been putting off. But it's finished, and it's up now!

Basically, I have the best beta, and I will never stop saying it. Continued thanks to RainbowSerenity for being awesome and sending back chapters each week despite how busy she is with her own fics and life and whatnot. CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH, LADY!

Massive thanks as well to everyone reading! Every like and favorite and message and follow and reblog and whatever (depending on if you're reading here or on tumblr) makes my day/week/life/everything. THANK YOU from the bottom of my bitter little heart. :)

Without further ado, the story continues. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter X: Free Coffee**

Lightning shot up in bed, clutching her chest and gasping for air, looking to her side to make sure she hadn't disturbed Serah and sighing in relief when she found her sister snoozing away like nothing was wrong. Her heart was pounding furiously as the words Yeul and Caius had spoken replayed in her mind. _What in the hell?_ Her thoughts were as breathless as she was. She had been nothing but mystified by the entire situation to this point, and all Yeul and Caius had done was make things all the more terrifying while answering little. Hope could probably make some sense of it far better than she… having the answers was his thing, not hers. She was a woman of action; if something needed fixing, she just went and did it, making it up as she went along. Hope was calm and calculated, a rock in the storm. Even when he didn't know what to do, he could fake it pretty well. She needed that now, but he needed sleep – and, frankly, so did she. Lightning closed her eyes and breathed deeply with her hand pressed against her breast as she laid back down. It made no difference if she woke him now or waited until morning to talk to him about this particular reverie, she reasoned. It would help even less to wake Serah since she would only worry and probably go wake up Snow to fix things. _No_. She would deal with this on her own for now.

A couple of hours later, she finally gave up on sleep when every bird in a three-kilometer radius began at once to sing, like one obnoxiously loud alarm clock. She went to the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water, frowning at how puffy and bloodshot her eyes were. _Well, aren't _you_ a looker, Farron_, she thought sarcastically, drying her face without looking at her reflection again. She would just take a nap later since they had nothing else to do today. Grabbing her cream-colored sweater from the armchair in the corner of the room and slipping it on over her camisole, Lightning padded quietly out of the room and down the stairs to make herself some coffee. It was already just after five in the morning according to the clock above the oven, so she resorted to making an entire pot as she knew the Estheims were usually up around six. She measured the coffee grounds carefully and filled the tank with filtered water, starting the brewing cycle before collapsing onto one of the barstools by the island while she waited. The cool quartzite stone felt wonderful against her skin as she rested her forehead on the countertop, letting it soothe the ache that had settled in behind her eyes due to her persistent lack of sleep.

In spite of her worry and fatigue, she smiled as the comforting hazelnut aroma filled the room. This – the peace that came with simple mornings and cups of coffee and curling up with a blanket to watch the sun rise – was all she wanted in this life, as well as, she supposed, someone to share it with. Her sister had Snow and didn't need her anymore. Not close at hand, anyway. And, much like Hope, she had no desire to be disturbed at night by thumping walls. _Hope_… She could see herself spending her days with him. It wouldn't be much different than it had always been with them, and she always felt this emptiness whenever they all discussed getting their own places to live. She enjoyed his company immensely, and had to admit he wasn't bad at all to look at…

The hiss of the coffeemaker completing the brewing cycle brought her out of her thoughts and she stood to fill the cup she had retrieved from the cupboard. As she poured her coffee, she heard shuffling feet behind her. Without looking to see who it was, she grabbed a second mug and went about filling it as well.

"Morning," she said as she topped off the spare cup.

"A little early for you, isn't it, Sis?" Snow stifled a yawn as Lightning glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Definitely early for you," she quipped as she stirred a bit of stevia and creamer into her mug. "How do you take yours?"

"Two sugars," he answered, nodding his thanks when she handed him his sweetened coffee and a spoon. She went into the dining room with Snow following close behind, and the two sat together in a relatively comfortable silence, sipping the hot liquid as they watched the sun rise through the eastern-facing windows. "This is great stuff, Sis," Snow remarked approvingly, taking a long, slow swig from his mug.

"Mm," she agreed with a mouthful of coffee, swallowing quickly. "Nora and Bartholomew have great taste."

"Yeah," he said absently. Taking another drink after noticing just how red and swollen her eyes looked in the morning light, he amended his earlier question. "Really, Lightning, how much sleep _did_ you get last night?"

Lightning didn't answer for a moment, but when she finally did, she did so begrudgingly. Probably because she knew he wasn't about to drop the subject. "Not a lot."

"Any particular reason why?" he prodded mischievously. "Maybe because of a certain silver fox partner of yours?"

Lightning seemed nonplussed at his implication as she took another drink from her cup. "We were up talking for a little while," she told him, staring out the windows and gently jostling her mug to swirl the liquid inside absentmindedly.

"What about?"

"You, actually," she told him with a sideways glance in his direction. "Specifically, your miraculous healing."

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" He flexed and extended his previously broken wrist for effect. "I actually meant to tell you both – after Hope pulled that stupid stunt of his the other night, Serah and I decided to test it ourselves."

"Ex_cuse me?"_

"Nothing major," he quickly assured her, "and only to me. Same thing Hope did, in the same spot."

"That was incredibly stupid," Lightning spat, her voice amplified as she spoke into her cup.

"It was Serah's idea. I spent twenty minutes talking her out of doing it herself."

"…Well, it was still reckless. And stupid." Lightning downed the rest of her coffee in one burning gulp and stood. "Need a refill?"

"Nah, I'm good," Snow said dismissively as he finished off his cup as well. Lightning returned quickly with her refreshed cup and an apple, the latter she placed in front of Snow. He was a little taken aback by her thoughtfulness, but decided against making mention of it. No sense poking the hornet's nest.

"So what happened?" Lightning asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"With the experiment."

"Oh." Snow held up his arm. "It closed up as we were watching it."

"Huh."

Snow bit into his apple and watched as Lightning placed her cup on the table and stirred its contents, evidently deep in thought. "What's on your mind, Sis?" He chuckled at her bemused expression. "I mean, not that I'm complaining, but you're acting a little strange this morning."

"Being nice to you is strange?"

He flinched at the warning in her tone. "Uh… a little, but it's more that you're so preoccupied with whatever it is you're thinking about. And it's more important than you're letting on." Lightning turned her attention back to her coffee, her expression significantly more troubled than before. "You can talk to me, you know. I know I'm kind of an idiot, but I do know how to listen."

"Did you vibrate or anything when your cut healed?" she asked quickly.

Snow blinked in confusion. "…_Vibrate_, Lightning? Really?"

"Like with energy," she clarified in annoyance.

"Hm… I guess so," he replied cautiously. "I'm not sure I would necessarily call it vibrating, but I could feel this power rushing to the cut from everywhere else in my body." Snow paused as he tried to think of a better way of relating the feeling to her, but as it turned out, he didn't need to.

"Sort of like the healing magic we had as l'Cie, but on a grander scale," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Kinda, yeah. It didn't come just from my brand like that magic did, though. It came from everywhere."

"Any burning at all?"

"Uh… don't take this the wrong way, Sis, but this is starting to sound like a really uncomfortable visit to the urologist-"

"Seriously, Snow. Did your body feel at all like it was on fire?"

"No, I don't think so."

Lightning said nothing further, still absently stirring her coffee, and Snow decided against bothering her with anything else for the time being. Something was going on with this whole healing thing; that much was clear. She didn't seem willing to talk about it yet, though, and if there was one thing he had learned about his future sister-in-law over the years, it was that pushing the issue only caused her to either withdraw further or punch him in the face. For someone who had saved all of humanity, Lightning was a strange kind of introvert.

"Morning, you two," Hope greeted lazily, stifling a yawn as he joined them at the table with his own cup steaming. "Who made the coffee?"

"Sis did," Snow answered, and Hope thanked her for doing so before taking the seat on the other side of her. He noticed her pensive expression and glanced across her at Snow in question, who only shrugged.

"How are you feeling, Light?" he asked quietly after taking his first drink. "You pretty much passed out there last night."

"Reverie," she replied simply, finally raising her mug to her lips.

"What? Who was it?" Hope asked anxiously. Snow wasn't sure what a reverie was, but whatever it was, Lightning was _not_ happy about it.

"One of the Yeuls," she told him, placing her cup on the table in a vain attempt to hide the way it trembled in her hands. "And Caius."

Snow suddenly realized what a reverie was. "Wait," he interjected, "you talked to _those_ two in one of those dream things?"

"We decided to call them 'reveries' because Light felt that calling them 'dreams' was… inaccurate," Hope explained to Snow before returning his attention to his partner. "Aren't they supposed to be in the Unseem Realm, though? How were you able to contact them?"

"I think _they_ contacted _me_," she ventured. "I think that's why I felt so tired all of a sudden last night – they wanted to talk to me, and they weren't willing to wait."

"That or they couldn't," Snow suggested.

"Well, what did they say?" Hope pried further, leaning towards her in his chair after putting his own coffee down next to hers. Lightning glanced between the two men flanking her before answering.

"Yeul said…" She paused to take a steadying breath. "The powers you two exhibited aren't meant to be yours."

"Wait, you _two_?" Snow cut in, but Hope silenced him with a wave of his hand without taking his eyes off of Lightning.

"What else?"

"She said your bodies can't handle the powers, and that others had them as well but have yet to manifest. She also said one had already returned to its rightful owner," Lightning recounted, staring at her fingers as they intertwined in her lap. "When I asked who all these powers belonged to, she and Caius both _appeared_ to me. Like, I could see them clearly and the way they were _oozing_ Chaos, and Caius…" Lightning paused again, squeezing her eyes shut. "He said I already knew."

Hope and Snow looked at each other in concern and then back at Lightning, who had recovered enough to take another sip of her coffee despite the fact that her cup was still shaking in her hand. "_Do_ you know?" Snow asked.

"An idea came to me in the midst of the Chaos, and I'm pretty sure I'm right, but they didn't say one way or the other-"

"They're yours, aren't they," Hope interjected, as if he had known all along. "Those powers were really meant to be yours in this world." When Lightning nodded hesitantly, Hope turned to Snow. "The healing you have, my ability to stop time-"

"When did you stop _time?"_ Snow interrupted incredulously.

"When we almost hit those wolves yesterday, but that's not the point-"

"The hell it is! I don't even remember that!"

"That's because you and Serah were frozen in the backseat, idiot," Lightning growled. Snow shrank back in his chair as Hope continued.

"Those abilities are powers Light had as the Savior," he explained, unsure if Snow had seen her use them when she was in Yusnaan. "She had others, too – the ability to summon decoys to distract her enemies, to create earthquakes to throw them off balance, to essentially bring herself back to life, the ability to escape any situation if she found herself in over her head-"

"I could talk to other people inside my mind, too," she added quietly, as if she had only just remembered she had been able to do that. "Even when I was in Valhalla, I could do that." Snow reclined in his chair looking positively dumbfounded as he absorbed the information. Hope was bent forward with his elbows propped on his knees, massaging his temple as if it ached. Lightning sat back in her chair with her arms and legs crossed, looking intently at her coffee mug.

"So wait," Snow piped up after a long bout of silence. "Yeul said other powers were dormant, right? Who else has any abilities besides me and Hope?"

"I don't think I have them anymore," Hope theorized, watching Lightning closely as she nodded.

"I think that's what she meant by one returning too," she told him. "It definitely felt like something was transferred into me with that shock."

"It certainly took a lot out of me," Hope concurred, "though I didn't realize it was quite that literal."

"I'm not gonna ask," Snow muttered, mostly to himself. "How do we find out who else has Savior power?"

"I think it probably stands to reason that all of us who helped Light in the final battle have some sort of power," Hope suggested, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.

"Why do you say that?" Lightning asked, finally looking at something else other than her coffee.

"I… can't really explain why I think that," Hope admitted thoughtfully, "but for some reason it makes sense in my head. We'll just have to wait and see if Serah and the others start displaying superhuman abilities."

"We have to find out fast. The last thing they said to me before I woke up was that you would all be seeing Caius sooner than you're supposed to if we didn't get this fixed."

Snow frowned. "But… didn't Caius take over as-"

"The god of the dead," Hope finished somberly.

Lightning stood abruptly from the table, her chair scraping loudly across the tile floor. "I'm gonna go lay down for a while," she announced, avoiding the eye of either man in her company.

"You can use my room since Serah's still asleep," Hope offered. Lightning nodded her thanks before dashing out of the dining room, leaving her coffee steaming weakly on the table. Snow looked questioningly at Hope as he emptied his cup in one gulp and stood to take care of his and Lightning's.

"What the hell is going on, kid?" he asked before Hope made his way back to the kitchen.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "but I'm going to figure this out. For all our sakes. For now, maybe don't let yourself get hurt. I don't think you can control when you do and don't heal yourself." And with that, Hope left his friend alone in the dining room. Snow finished off his apple, even though he wasn't feeling all that hungry anymore, and sat there staring out the windows for a long time. Weren't they ever going to catch a break?

* * *

Hope knocked quietly on his bedroom door just in case she was already sleeping. "Light?" he whispered into the doorframe. "Can I come in?" He received no response, so, as quietly as he could manage, he opened the door just enough to peek in. "Light?" He could see her curled up on top of the cover on his bed facing away from the door, wearing his old bathrobe. She almost looked like a little kid playing dress-up with the way the terry cloth fabric swallowed her slender frame and he couldn't help but smile at the image. Hope slipped into the room and closed the door behind him with a barely audible _click_ and rolled his desk chair to the bedside. He leaned over her carefully to see if she was sleeping and gave himself a start when he saw her eyes were half open, looking up at him.

"I didn't say you could come in," she whispered in irritation, though the way the corner of her mouth twitched betrayed her.

"Well, it _is_ my room," Hope retorted as he poked the back of her shoulder gently. "And my robe, I noticed. Is my comforter not good enough for you?"

"It doesn't smell like you," Lightning blurted lazily, curling further into the robe's fabric. Hope straightened, momentarily taken aback by her observation.

"But my robe does, when I haven't worn it in who knows how long?"

"Mmhm," she hummed as her eyes slid closed. "It's… calming."

Hope beamed from his seat. "Well, if my clothes have everything covered here-"

"Har, har," she deadpanned.

"Pun _not_ intended," he chortled, "I'll leave you be." Hope got up with the intention of putting his chair back in its rightful place and leaving the room once he had done so, but a small sound of protest gave him pause. He turned towards her again and saw her delicate hand reaching behind her in what had to be an incredibly uncomfortable angle, since her body was still facing the far wall. "Do you need something else?" he asked, returning to her side. She was grasping around for something, so Hope offered his hand and she took it readily.

"Can you…" she paused, and he noticed how she burrowed a little more into the dark green fabric she had encompassed herself with. "Can you stay? Please?"

Had it been physically possible, Hope was sure his heart would have outgrown his chest at that moment. He crawled up onto the bed and sat next to her, still holding her hand and tracing circles on the back of it with his thumb. "Of course I can stay," he murmured, shifting as she flipped around and curled up next to him, burying her head in the crevice where the comforter and his thigh met.

"Just for a minute…" she told him as she dozed off, aided by his fingers idly running through her hair.

"As long as you need me."

* * *

Serah had seen Lightning run into Hope's room looking extremely upset. She figured it had something to do with whatever had woken her sister up in a panic last night, which she had only been semi-conscious for before sleep took her again. It was clear now that whatever it had been had affected Lightning more than she realized, and after grabbing a sweatshirt from the closet and throwing it on, she rushed to find out what was up. By the time she was about to clear the door, though, Hope was knocking on his door and let himself in. Had she not known about Lightning's nightmare, she would have marched right in after him demanding to know what she was upset about, but Hope could handle her in this situation just as well, and Serah was in dire need of some of the coffee she smelled. A text message from Estelle had roused her that morning, saying her train would arrive in Strasbourg around two-thirty, and Serah had already arranged a late lunch, or early dinner, with Sazh and Dajh at three. This was going to be the _best_ day.

She was nearly skipping by the time she reached the kitchen, humming cheerfully to herself as she poured out a cup of coffee, almost a third of which was cream and sugar, and carefully carried the steaming liquid into the dining room. Snow was already there with an odd look on his face as he stared out the eastern windows. "Morning, Snow," she sang, bending down to kiss his cheek before taking the seat next to him. The strange look was already gone before she had been able to get a good look at it.

"Good morning, my beautiful bride," he replied, sounding just like his normal self as he leaned over to kiss her. Once he had pulled back enough for her to see the storm raging in his eyes, she frowned.

"All right, you. Something's up." She sat up straight in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. "Spill it."

"Nothing's wrong, ba-"

"Uh-uh, Snow Villiers. You might be able to fool the average person with this act of yours, but I know you better than that." Serah leaned towards him and placed two fingers and her thumb alongside his jawline, effectively holding him in place so he couldn't look away. "Tell me what's wrong. Is it something with Sis?"

"How'd you know?"

"I saw her run into Hope's room just before I came down. Saw Hope follow her, too." She wrung her hands with worry. "Please, Snow. She's my sister. Tell me what happened."

And Snow obliged, relaying everything he had heard this morning, even telling her about her sister's strangely thoughtful behavior towards him. Serah grew increasingly concerned with each new detail, especially when he told her exactly how they had so narrowly avoided leaving a smear of wolves on the pavement the day prior. She sipped slowly on her coffee as Snow explained that it wasn't just him and Hope who had some sort of power, and how every ability was likely meant to belong to her sister.

"But it doesn't make any sense," she argued. "We were supposed to be free of all that here. Do _I_ have some sort of power I don't know about yet? Vanille or Fang? Little Dajh? Maybe people we don't even know!"

"For all any of us knows, Caius is wrong and it's actually no big deal," Snow said reassuringly. "Everything may just go away on its own, though I guess Hope lost his when Sis touched his arm while his power was active."

"Maybe we should try letting her touch yours while yours is, too," Serah suggested, taking another sip of her coffee. "See if it always transfers when she does that."

"We should probably figure out who else has Light's old savior power first," Snow said. "_If_ anybody else has any. Maybe it's just me and Hope with a bunch of different powers."

"But Yeul and Caius said other people had them, too. I wouldn't doubt what they say, Yeul especially." Serah said nothing for some time, mulling over the new information. All of this needed to be addressed like, yesterday, and she wasn't even sure where to start. Sighing in defeat, she pushed it out of her mind for the time being. "Well, no sense worrying about it until we need to," she said more to herself than anyone in particular, then looked at Snow. "Estelle is getting in this afternoon," she said, "and I'd like you to go with me to meet her."

"Sure thing, babe." He yawned as he stood from his chair and stretched loudly. "I'll go ahead and jump in the shower since Sis and Hope are in his room."

"I think I'll stay down here a little longer," Serah said absentmindedly. "Have to finish this coffee anyway."

"What, you don't want to join me?" Snow asked suggestively. "You had no problem doing that back at the hotel."

"Snow!" Serah hissed, feeling completely scandalized.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, backing away with his hands held up defensively. "Rain check then?"

"Make sure you take a _cold_ shower."

After Snow had gone upstairs and she had finished off her cup, Serah thought she should check on her sister and Hope. She knew his parents would be getting up soon, and it would be nice for them to have breakfast together on their first morning back under the same roof. To that end, she had decided to relieve him of comfort duty. But, when she reached the top of the stairs, the Estheims were already awake, standing outside of Hope's room. _Crap_, she thought, hoping they weren't upset or something. As she drew closer, though, she saw only gentle smiles and quietly joined them, smiling in return when they acknowledged her arrival.

"Are they okay in there?" she whispered once she reached their side. "Sis was really upset about something this morning and Hope went in to talk to her before I got up."

"See for yourself," Bartholomew offered as he and Nora shifted to give her some space, and the sight warmed her straight to her core. Hope was sleeping propped up against his headboard with his chin dropped to his chest, and Lightning's head rested on her hand atop his thigh. His fingers were threaded in her hair while the other hand lay on his stomach just above where her head backed up against it. Serah didn't know if they had deliberately dozed off like that, but it was adorable either way.

"Oh, I wish I had a camera," Serah sighed in disappointment, but Nora winked and held up her phone.

"Already took care of it."

Serah covered her mouth to keep from laughing aloud. "Remind me to never end up in a compromising position around you," she giggled as Nora shrugged innocently. Serah turned her attention back into the room. "His neck is going to be _so_ sore when he wakes up," she said, though she had no intention of moving or waking him to mitigate the damage. It seemed his parents didn't either.

"Let's let them sleep a bit longer," Nora whispered, guiding Serah and her husband back towards the stairs after closing the door. "It'll take a little while to get breakfast ready anyway. Would you mind giving me a hand, Serah?"

"I'd love to! Snow will too as soon as he's out of the shower, I'm sure."

"Oh, he's spoken for this morning, I think," Nora grinned as she looked to her spouse.

"There's some work to be done in the garage," Bartholomew explained in response to the questioning look Serah was giving them. "We're building a fence and I'd like his help cutting the wood, since Hope decided to take a nap."

"Oh! He'll enjoy that. Anything to show off," she chuckled, shaking her head.

"Just as long as he doesn't go hurting himself while he does," Bartholomew cautioned.

Serah laughed nervously to hide the sobering effect his statement had on her. "Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem."

* * *

Hope awoke to the smell of something baking, a weight on his leg, and a rather uncomfortable crick in his neck. He stretched it as best he could, opening his eyes as his head rolled forward. His heart jumped into his throat when he noticed the weight on his leg was Lightning. She hadn't been in that position when she had dozed off initially… had she woken up at some point to adjust, or had she ended up like that while she was asleep? For that matter, how had his fingers ended up so hopelessly tangled in her hair? He didn't mind, really… but what if _she _did?

_She's not going to mind, you moron,_ he chided himself. _We've known each other long enough for this._ He really needed to stop second-guessing his closeness to her, but he was finding that increasingly difficult the more he thought about how much he wanted more. If she wasn't onto him already, he would be shocked - he wasn't known for hiding his emotions very well, even as an adult. _Controlling_ them was easier now than when he was a teenager, but he had never quite mastered _concealing_ them. Oh well. Maybe that would make things easier for him in the long run.

"Hope?" Lightning's drowsy voice made him jump a little. She hadn't moved an inch before she spoke up to indicate she had woken up.

"Uh- yeah?"

"That feels really nice," she mumbled, still frozen in place.

Hope opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about before he noticed his fingers were combing through her hair again. "O…oh," he stammered, inwardly berating his sudden inability to articulate.

"Have you been doing that the whole time?" she asked, almost shyly.

"I think I dozed off for a little bit," Hope admitted, feeling his cheeks burning as he withdrew his hand from her hair.

"I didn't say stop," she demanded, turning her head to glare halfheartedly at him in her periphery. Hope's stomach jerked in a short laugh and he resumed his ministrations.

"As you wish," he said melodramatically. "Just don't fall asleep again. It smells like breakfast is almost ready."

"…Maybe you _should_ stop, then. There's no way I'll last long while you're doing that."

"Yes ma'am," he said as he brought his hand out of her hair and up to his chest in a mock salute, and she playfully punched his arm before sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Hope watched her closely for any sign of distress, and while relieved to see no evidence of such, he still wanted to know if the nap had helped, even if just a little. "Are you feeling any better, Light?"

She shrugged noncommittally in reply. "Sort of. I guess." Hope pursed his lips as she turned her back to him to stand up, but quickly neutralized his expression before she faced him again with what was obviously a forced smile. "Come on. Don't want you to miss your first breakfast at home."

Hope's neutrality morphed into genuine content at that. "Yeah," he said, standing and crossing the room to open the door for her. "Let's go."

* * *

As it turned out, breakfast with her makeshift family was exactly what Lightning needed to lift her spirits. As she watched her completely worry-free partner sit next to his parents simply enjoying their company, a tenderness she had never known welled up inside of her, but it was having her sister next to her and Snow keeping the conversation upbeat without making her want to slam her head against the table that made her heart sing. For a time, she was able to forget about powers and reveries and thinly veiled references to her brush with deism, and could just be simple, uninteresting, ordinary Claire Farron, twenty-one-year-old security forces veteran who _certainly_ never did anything like tangle with gods and change fates and save entire worlds. It was a taste of the bliss she had always wanted that had, to this point, always been just out of reach. _One day_, she vowed, _I will have this, and _only_ this. Whatever it takes._

Hope caught her eye and smiled reassuringly. She must have looked more severe than she had intended, and so returned his smile serenely. No sense in brooding while Snow was regaling the table with wild stories about his travels with Serah across thirteen different eras.

"Snow, you know that happened during a paradox, right?" she reminded him before she took another bite of her croissant.

"Well, _yeah_, but it still happened before the paradox resolved itself," Snow retorted. "And we had some _great_ times on that ride, huh, babe?"

Serah smiled and closed her eyes as she sipped on her coffee. "We did," she agreed, "but I'm kind of glad they happened during a paradox. It would have been really awkward to come home suddenly as big as-" Serah gasped and stopped short before finishing her sentence and cast a mildly panicked glance at Snow and then to every bemused expression at the table.

"As big as…?" Lightning repeated, her tone warning. Hope's eyes went wide before he turned his focus solely on the contents of his plate.

"Oh, Serah…" Nora exhaled sadly. "You were pregnant in the paradox?"

Hope suddenly started coughing uncontrollably and Bartholomew had to pound briskly on his back before he was able to recover. If looks could kill, Snow would have been at least twelve feet under by Lightning's hand then.

"We… were never really sure," Serah insisted nervously, deliberately avoiding her sister's murderous gaze. "I just thought, you know, maybe… but it didn't end up mattering anyway because the paradox resolved a couple of days later."

"We had already picked out names, though," Snow mentioned before shrinking against the force of Lightning's glare.

"Well… at least it wasn't an entire _family_ born within a paradox," Hope offered as a means of both taking the heat off of Snow and Serah and putting Lightning at ease. "That would have been awful to raise a bunch of kids, only to have them suddenly no longer exist after it had resolved. Particularly since you two would probably have remembered them."

That hadn't occurred to Lightning until Hope said it. And not only would her sister and Snow have essentially lost their children to the death of a paradox, but _she_ would have seen them from Valhalla. She would have traced their entire lives in that paradox, even knowing it would disappear in a flash. It wouldn't have affected her nearly as much as Serah, but it still made her sick to her stomach. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a child. Truth be told, she hadn't really even considered children of her own after raising Serah, but to consider _losing_ them was something else entirely. Shuddering at the thought, she took a quick swig of coffee that was just slightly too hot for her to have done so and winced as the liquid burned all the way to her stomach. She was reassured by the fact that Serah and Snow didn't seem terribly upset about it now. That, or they had already dealt with the emotional backlash of what had essentially been forced termination.

"That's pretty much how we felt about it at the time," Serah said without a trace of regret. "Or how _I_ felt, anyway. Once the paradox had resolved, I was back with Noel, and Snow was off wherever he was."

"I think I was somewhere near the Paddraean ruins, because I ended up in front of the _biggest_ wild behemoth you've ever seen," Snow said theatrically, raising his arms as if ready to swat at his food akin to the way the large quadrupeds did to their prey. "That sucker barely missed me! But I managed to roll out of the way _just_ in time and freeze his ass in mid swing. No problem."

Lightning rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her meal as Snow continued on with his stories of grand adventures and near-misses, at least half of which she knew were highly exaggerated because she had seen them from Valhalla. All the same, robbing the man of his fun (and the table of its entertainment) seemed pointless. After all, this – everyone at ease, enjoying time together – was exactly what she wanted, wasn't it?

"I'd better start getting ready to go," Serah announced some time later once every plate had been cleaned.

"Where are you headed?" Nora asked as she began clearing the table with Hope and Lightning's help.

"We found Sazh's wife in Paris," Snow explained, wincing when a small elbow nudged his ribs. "Or, rather, _Serah_ found her, and she arrives in Strasbourg early this afternoon."

"Sazh's _wife?_" Hope exclaimed over the loud clatter of a fork he accidently dropped onto a small stack of plates Lightning had collected. This morning was full of surprises…

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lightning demanded.

"We didn't keep it from you on purpose," Serah said contritely. "There was just a lot going on and it never came up. But she'll be here today if you want to meet her! Her name is Estelle and she's lovely."

Hope and Lightning looked at each other, smiled, and shook their heads. "Why don't you two go on ahead?" Hope suggested. "That family has been separated longer than any of us."

"We can meet her another day after they've had a chance to spend some quality time together," Lightning finished for him as she crossed into the kitchen balancing a stack of plates in her hands.

"Why don't we have them over for dinner next week?" Nora suggested over her shoulder from the sink where she began rinsing the dishes Lightning had brought. Hope was close behind with cups and silverware, and Bartholomew had brought the last of the serving platters, dutifully taking his place at his wife's side with a large towel in one hand and the first cleaned dish to dry in the other. Hope had taken to putting clean and dry dishes back into their cabinets and drawers while Lightning returned to the dining room with a wet cloth meant for cleaning and polishing the tabletop.

"That's a wonderful idea," Serah agreed excitedly. "Should I tell them to be here next Saturday?"

"Perfect," Bartholomew said. "In fact, why don't I go with you and Snow and formally extend the invitation? I have to run into town to get a few things for work anyway, and you need to return the car Sazh lent you. I can bring you both home in mine."

"Make sure you ask them what they'd like for dinner," Nora mentioned as she scrubbed the final dish. "They'll be our guests of honor, so whatever they want, I'd be happy to make."

"You know, Nora, you should teach Sis to cook," Snow suggested with a sly glance toward the dining room just as Lightning emerged from it.

"I can cook just fine," she scowled, swatting at Snow with her washcloth, which he dodged with ease.

"Tell that to the charred saucepan we had to throw out at the old house," Serah quipped.

"You _did_ tell me your only specialty was campfire cooking, Light," Hope added apologetically.

Lightning stood in the center of the kitchen, glancing between all of them looking utterly betrayed. "Traitors. _All_ of you."

"Oh, come on, Lightning," Nora laughed. "It'll be fun! I'll have you cooking gourmet meals in no time. And _Hope_," she continued with a pointed look in her son's direction, "can be your taste tester."

Hope's eyes snapped to his mother's and worry flashed within them. Once he turned back to Lightning, it was clear by her frown and the way her hands were propped on her hips that she had noticed. "O… okay, yeah, sure!" he chuckled nervously.

Lightning narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "Just for that," she said menacingly, "I'm screwing up the first dish on purpose."

* * *

"Do you see her yet?" Bartholomew asked, glancing at the grand station clock, which now read _2:45_.

"Not yet…" Serah answered as she craned her neck to see through the crowd emerging from the boarding platform. She hadn't received a text yet from Estelle to say if she had arrived, and the crowd was starting to thin with still no sign of her.

"Wait! I see her," Snow said, jumping up and waving frantically. "Hey Estelle! Over here!"

Serah followed his line of sight and finally spotted the woman sitting on a bench near the station's information desk. She was curious as to why Estelle was just sitting there with several pieces of luggage on a cart, so she, Snow, and Bartholomew jogged up to her, greeting her warmly.

"We'll take care of your things," the latter told her as he and Snow took the luggage trolley and hauled it off. Serah took a careful seat next to her new friend, sensing something was troubling her.

"Is everything all right?" she asked quietly.

Estelle shook her head and smiled, albeit weakly. "Everything's fine," she insisted, but Serah could hear the hesitance behind it.

"You sure? You can tell me if something's wrong."

"…It's just…" Estelle looked up from her hands as her eyes started to shine dangerously. "What if my baby doesn't recognize me?"

Serah couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, Estelle, of _course_ he will! Dajh is something special. I'm sure he remembers exactly what you look like."

"You don't understand. Last time he saw me, he was only three, and I was so emaciated by that point thanks to the cancer," Estelle lamented. "He wouldn't remember any of the days I was healthy since he was so young."

"Well…" Serah began thoughtfully. _She_ was sure Dajh would know who Estelle was, but she wasn't sure how to assure her friend of that. "Why don't we cross that bridge when we come to it? Even if he doesn't remember your face, I'd be willing to bet he'll know your voice."

Estelle closed her eyes and breathed deeply, wiping away the one tear that had managed to escape before nodding resolutely. "You're right, I'm sure. I'm sorry."

Serah stood and held out her hand to the older woman. "Don't be," she smiled. "I understand." Leading Estelle by the hand, she rushed out of the station and towards the awaiting cars. "Come on. I think you've been away from your family quite long enough."

**[end ch. 10]**

* * *

And that's it for today! See you next week with what is probably my favorite chapter so far (and I just finished writing chapter 14)! HEEEEEE


	11. Chapter 11: The Luckiest(?)

So this is my favorite chapter, I think - or, rather, this and chapter 12 together are my favorites so far (and I'm in the middle of writing chapter 15 right now). Hopefully you all enjoy this and next week's chapter as much as I have!

MANY thanks to my beta RainbowSerenity, as always. I told her this week how long I'm planning to have this story go (I'm set up for a trilogy) and she's still sticking with me, so yay! :D And MANY thanks to all of you who send reviews, feedback, PMs, likes, follows, favorites, reblogs, whatever - knowing how many of you are enjoying the story makes my _life_. I cannot thank you all enough. :)

This chapter and the next chapter, because they're SO DAMN LONG, will be posted in text form on FFnet only. These will (I think) be the only two chapters to do this, because the poor mobile users (I'm one of them) on tumblr don't have the benefit of the read more function. It is very easy to read on here with or without an account from mobile, though (I've done it a lot), so everybody should be good to go! :)

And now I'll shut up so you guys can read.

* * *

**Chapter XI: The Luckiest(?)**

Snow stopped the car just behind Bartholomew's, less than a block down from the restaurant where Serah had arranged to meet Sazh and Dajh. Bartholomew was already out in front of the restaurant shaking hands with Sazh while the youngest Katzroy zoomed around them with a toy biplane. Snow grinned at the two women in the backseat through the rearview mirror, gave them his signature thumbs-up, and exited the car to greet his old friend. Serah, meanwhile, reached over to give Estelle's hand a reassuring squeeze. The older woman barely registered the contact as she stared out the window at her family, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

"My baby… he's so big now…"

"Ready, Estelle?" Serah asked encouragingly. Estelle swallowed hard and nodded, so she opened the door and stepped out to wait for her friend to join her on the sidewalk. Once they were both out, she closed the door as quietly as she could so as not to draw attention since Estelle was already making her way, _very_ slowly, towards the others.

"We took great care of the car for you, Dajh," Snow was telling the young boy as he rustled the puff of hair atop the child's head. Dajh laughed and swatted Snow's hand away.

"You're gonna mess it up, Snow," he complained.

"Ain't nobody alive who can do that to Dajh's hair and get away with it," Sazh chuckled. "Not even me."

Estelle, only ten feet or so away now, saw her chance and took it. "Am I still allowed, little man?"

All eyes snapped to her, including Serah's, who stood just behind her. For several seconds, no one moved, and Estelle felt her nerve slipping away from her. She was about to turn away when Dajh suddenly let his toy plane drop to the ground.

"Dad, isn't that… that's Mommy, isn't it?"

Sazh didn't answer as he stared right at Estelle, so intently it was as if he could see right through her. Serah rushed forward and knelt in front of the boy, speaking up quickly to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, Dajh, this is your mommy. Remember in class, you used to tell us how your dad gave you her picture and told you a different story about her every night?" Serah's heart broke as she heard Estelle bite back a sob. "Remember how you showed us the stuffed chocobo she made you when you were a baby?"

"Yeah," Dajh said with an air of uncertainty, clinging to Sazh's frozen leg. Serah extended her hand to him and smiled encouragingly as he took it. Dajh was still hesitant to go to Estelle, who had dropped to her knees upon seeing the doubt in her son's eyes. She had expected this or worse, but it didn't make being a stranger to her son any easier or any less painful. Estelle swallowed through the tightness in her throat and inhaled deeply through her nose as an idea came to her. With soul and sorrow equal, Estelle began to sing.

"Moon of old Cocoon,  
The night is falling,  
Moon of old Cocoon,  
The wind is calling;

Rise above Pulsian seas,  
Show how lovely you can be,  
Sky has made a garden full of flowers,  
White jasmine petal stars strewn in silver bowers;

Robes of cloud about the heavens flow,  
While we await your golden glow…"

Serah's eyes welled up as the broken mother's voice sang words and a tune she last heard in carefree childhood days long since gone by. _Moon of Old Cocoon_ had been one of her mother's favorite songs to sing to her and Lightning when they weren't even half Dajh's current age, and in all the years since, she had completely forgotten its gently lilting rhythm and lyrics which made little sense in the mind of a toddler.

While Estelle sang, Serah noticed Dajh had begun to hum along and she let go of his hand to allow him to continue edging towards his mother unencumbered. She wasn't sure if he even realized he was doing it. She had been right – Dajh may not have remembered her face, but he _definitely_ remembered her voice.

"Do you remember that song, little man?" Estelle asked gently, holding out her hand to Dajh now that he was close enough to take it if he wanted to. "I used to sing it to you every night, even when I was in the hospital. Remember that?"

Dajh nodded slowly in response. "I remember the music parts, but I never could remember all the words," he said in the kind of matter-of-fact tone only a child could properly employ. "Dad tried to sing it to me a couple of times, but he couldn't remember all of them either. And he doesn't sing as pretty."

Estelle chuckled through her tears, glancing up at Sazh – who had moved only as far as allowing tears to run down his face – before training her gaze back on her son. "Baby, you don't even want to _know_ how many times I had to use earplugs whenever your daddy would try to sing to _me_."

Dajh giggled at the image and took his mother's hand shyly. "Hey Mommy, do you get to stay with us now? Or will you have to leave again?"

Estelle looked him straight in the eye. "Would you like me to stay with you, Dajh?"

"Uh-huh." The boy nodded emphatically. "And maybe, when I get to be in Serah's class again, I can tell stories of my own instead of telling Dad's!"

"Then, my precious little man, I'm not going anywhere."

In a flash, the boy closed the remaining distance between himself and his mother and flung his arms around her as she crumpled completely to the ground, sobbing as her emotional burden fell away just as quickly and easily as the tears pouring down her cheeks.

"My baby," Estelle breathed as she wept in joy. "You been taking care of your old man for me while I was gone?"

"Yep," Dajh nodded. "I made a wish once on the magic fireworks that he would be happy, and he was! Except when I was asleep for a long time, he wasn't so happy again, but when I woke up, he was the same old dad!"

"A long time, huh?" Estelle chuckled. "Just how long were you slackin', little man? You know your old dad can't do a thing without you and me."

"Oh, he did _real_ good, Mommy. He helped save the world, you know!"

"Oh, he _did_, did he?"

"Yep! And I helped, too. We even helped beat a god!" Dajh turned around in Estelle's embrace. "Come on and tell her, Dad! You're way better at telling stories than me."

But it was as if Sazh had turned to crystal. If not for the tracks carved by tears on his face, he may as well have been. Estelle stood with Dajh's hand in hers and the boy pulled her towards her husband. She came to a stop right in front of him before he said anything at all.

"Essie…" he choked. "You…"

"Serah found me in a library in Paris," she explained clumsily, though no question had been asked. "She's the one who told me you were here."

"You..."

"I just got into town," she continued hastily. "Serah arranged the whole thing." Estelle timidly reached up and cradled Sazh's cheek just as a tear escaped his eye and rolled over her hand. "I looked for you…" she whispered, not trusting the integrity of her voice with the way her heart was fluttering madly inside her chest. "Both of you, but I couldn't find any information. And then I got a job offer here at the university and I had asked them to wait until I could find yo-"

Estelle was cut off as Sazh crashed his mouth into hers. Her eyes widened, but closed just as quickly as she melted into her husband's embrace. Serah took Dajh's hand, picked up his toy for him, and guided him into the restaurant behind Snow and Bartholomew to give the reunited spouses some privacy. Dajh was all too happy to follow. He loved his parents, but he didn't so much like seeing them be all affectionate like that. It grossed him out.

"Hey Serah, do you and Snow do that, too?" he asked with an air of disgust.

"Sometimes," she giggled in reply. "It's how two people who really love each other a lot greet each other after they've been apart."

"I hope I never grow up, then," the boy announced.

Snow chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair again. "Aw, come on, Dajh! One day, you'll get older, and you'll meet a girl who makes you feel that way."

"Uh-uh," Dajh shook his head. "I'm gonna take care of animals when I grow up, not… do _that_."

"You want to be a veterinarian, Dajh?" Bartholomew asked.

"Yep! I thought Dad might want me to be a mechanic and fly planes like he does, but he said I can do whatever I want."

Bartholomew nodded approvingly at the boy. "That's an honorable profession. One I'm sure this world needs."

"So I'm gonna pay _real_ close attention in Serah's classes when she talks about biogoly and stuff!"

"Bio_logy_," Serah corrected over Snow's roaring laughter and Bartholomew's chuckling. "I'll be sure to teach some extra lessons on mammal anatomy just for you, okay?"

"Cool!"

Once Snow had recovered enough, he walked up to the host's station. "We have a reservation for five adults and one kiddo," he told the _Maitre'd' _behind the podium.

"Would you like to be seated now, or would you prefer to wait for your entire party?" the man asked pleasantly.

Snow glanced out the front door to where Sazh and Estelle were still in the midst of their reunion. "Eh, probably best to just seat us now. They might be a while," he said, hitching his thumb in the Katzroys' direction. "Just tell them where we are whenever they decide to join us. They should finish up out there sooner or later."

* * *

Hope wiped the sweat off his brow after marking the last row of posts for the fence. It wasn't hard work, necessarily; in fact, he rather enjoyed the mathematical precision in drawing up the plans, scaling the measurements, and very, _very_ carefully plotting each row of post holes in laser-straight lines. He found comfort in the meticulous number-crunching, checking and rechecking his measurements and then checking them again, and the satisfaction he felt when the plot's dimensions were right on point from every angle was not unlike he felt when the new Cocoon began its ascent into the Pulsian sky.

He had taken it upon himself to pick up where his father and Snow had left off before breakfast while they were off in Strasbourg and was rather proud of the headway he'd made, especially since he had done it mostly alone. Lightning had offered to help at first, but after she had grown so frustrated with his constant "hold it straight, Light" instructions, she had gone back inside with a huff and only assisted when he needed someone to stabilize a stake while he stretched twine towards the next one, storming right back inside once he had tied it off. He wasn't sure what she was up to in there since he'd been working outside for the last couple of hours, only fifteen minutes of which she'd been out with him.

Hope reached for his t-shirt, which he had removed around an hour prior, and hung it around the back of his neck before he stretched the protesting musculature along his spine and shoulders. It had been too long since he'd subjected himself to this extent of manual labor, and he appreciated the way it relaxed him even through the discomfort it yielded. He'd have to get back to working out on a regular basis now that he had the time. A small smile graced his features as he remembered the times he - or rather, his body – would run through circuits with Light in the Ark any time she was especially restless or frustrated. Lifetimes before that, Lightning used to train him whenever time allowed, which wasn't as often as either of them would have liked, back when they traveled together as l'Cie. He made a mental note to invite her to train with him again. He knew she had her own frustrations and worries to work out now.

Squinting up at the sky and seeing how the sun was no longer as high as it had been when he started, he figured it was getting close to dinner and decided it was time to call it a day. He wouldn't have minded downing an entire bucket of ice water just then. He considered wiping down with his shirt, but he knew he would cool faster if he just left it for the time being. So, that's what he did, leaving his shirt hanging across his shoulders and tugging on either end of the fabric as he rolled his head in circles to stretch the tense muscles along the sides of his neck as he walked inside the house by way of the sunroom.

"Hope? That you?" Nora's voice echoed through the house.

"Yeah, Mom," he called back. "Hit a good stopping point for the day, I think."

"Come on in the kitchen then," came her voice again. "Drink some water before you get cleaned up."

Hope reveled in the way the gentle breeze created by the large ceiling fan cooled his hot skin as he made his way through the living room. Leaving the thin sheen of sweat on his torso had definitely been the right choice. As he entered the kitchen, Nora already had a large glass of ice water set out for him on the island. He plopped down on one of the barstools and thanked her before taking a long, slow drink from the glass. Grabbing the hair hanging in front of his face and holding it up and back against his crown, Hope held the cool glass against his forehead and let the condensation on the glass intermix with the sweat that was quickly drying on his brow. _I am going to take the _longest_ shower ever later tonight..._

"Hey Nora, I couldn't find the dessert book, but I did manage to find the recipe for it on... on the..."

Hope pulled the glass away from his face to smile nervously at Lightning, praying she wasn't still irritated with him, as she walked in with a piece of paper held rather limply in her hand. She had frozen to the spot in the entryway and was staring at him, her lips just barely parted and her eyes wide. So many moments passed without her so much as blinking that he became concerned and, setting his glass on the countertop, he stood from the barstool to be at the ready to come to her aid should she need it.

"Lightning?" Nora had turned around a few moments after Lightning had entered, and her voice was tinged with mischief as she said her name. When Lightning remained in a trance, Hope started forward in alarm.

"Light!"

As if his voice had flicked a switch in Lightning's mind, she jumped just slightly, dropping the piece of paper outright. "Oh! ...Oh gods." A conspicuously red-faced Lightning was making a show of picking up the paper and busying herself with something in the refrigerator, keeping her back turned towards him all the while even if it caused her to side-step across the floor. He walked up behind her, a bit perplexed at her behavior.

"Light? Are you okay?" he asked in concern as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

"_Fine!_ Just… fine, I'm fine, everything's... fine." The words tumbled out of her mouth just as quickly as she had shied away from his hand and rushed towards the stovetop. She picked up the closest thing to her and used it to stir the contents of the pot that had been steaming away since Hope had walked in.

"Lightning, dear?" Nora said calmly.

"Huh?"

"You're stirring the chocolate with the empty paper towel roll."

Lightning blinked as she stared at hand she was stirring with and swore as she withdrew the cardboard tube, dripping dark chocolate goo everywhere. "_Shit!_ Oh gods, I'm so sorry, Nora, I... I don't know what's gotten into me," she faltered as she grabbed the dish rag from the sink and went about cleaning up the mess she had made.

"I have a theory," Nora said to herself, so quietly that Hope had barely heard standing right next to her. He raised an eyebrow at his mother, who only shrugged. "Penny in the air..."

Hope watched in bemusement for a second before he knelt down to help her, but Lightning gasped audibly and jumped backward to put some distance between the two of them. "NO, Hope, please, you don't have to- just let me- it's my screw-up, just let me do it. I'm almost done anyway." And she was, so an increasingly bewildered Hope stood to the side until she had wiped up the last drop of chocolate and began to rinse the rag in the sink. He stared blankly as she scrubbed the fabric furiously against itself under the running water until a mark he knew hadn't been on her cheek before caught his eye.

"Here, hold still," he said as he took his thumb and wiped the intruding chocolate off of her face. She did indeed hold very, very still, staring intently into the stream of water pouring onto the cloth in her hands. She only dared a glance in her periphery when, instead of washing it in the already running water, Hope brought the digit to his lips and sucked the chocolate off of it. "Hm... you might want to turn down the heat on that burner, Light," he remarked after swirling the chocolate around on his tongue to gauge the flavor. "It's starting to get too bitter."

In a series of faster, clumsier movements than he had ever seen from anybody, let alone _her_, Lightning dropped the rag into the sink, shut off the water, muttered something about excusing herself, and dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs in a pink and red blur, leaving Hope gaping after her. Nora crossed smoothly to the stovetop to do as Hope had suggested, wearing the smuggest grin on her face as she stirred the dark chocolate fondue with the rubber spatula propped on a spoon rest on the counter.

"What... the hell… was that," he managed in his astonishment.

"Oh, like you don't know." If Hope didn't know better, he'd have thought that was _pride_ dripping from his mother's voice.

"Mom, if I knew, would I have asked?"

Nora turned her head so he could see the smirk on her face more clearly. "Hope Nolan Estheim, _please_ tell me you are _not_ that clueless." When he continued staring at her in confusion, she turned back to the pot and shook her head in amusement. "Damn good genes, kiddo. That's all I'm saying."

It _was_ pride, Hope realized, and he looked down to inspect his appearance. He furrowed his brow, observing the way his chest and abdominal muscles rippled beneath the skin as he arched his back just enough to aid his view. Letting his arms fall limply to his sides, he lifted his gaze and stared absently into the direction in which Light had disappeared while he absorbed the truth of the matter.

_He_ was the reason she had so completely lost her shit. _Him_. Sweaty, lanky, smelly, dirty Hope Estheim had turned the indomitable, unyielding, self-assured Claire 'Lightning' Farron into what amounted to an adorably awkward bull in a chocolate-covered china shop.

"Shut... _up," _he breathed as Nora laughed at the goofy grin on his face. With renewed vigor, Hope rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs after her.

"And the penny…" Nora sang to herself, holding the spatula at eye level and watching the chocolate run off of it in perfect consistency before letting it fall back into the pot, "drops."

* * *

"I still can't believe you're even sitting here, Essie," Sazh said for probably the fifth time in an hour.

"Well _get_ used to it, because I'll be damned if you can get rid of me now," she sassed.

Having long since paid their bill, the group had been sitting together for the past hour lazily finishing their meals and reminiscing about the days before Estelle's untimely passing in an attempt to help Dajh feel more comfortable with his mother. The more Snow watched Sazh and Estelle together, the fonder he became of the quick-witted woman, and the faster he wanted to marry Serah so he could enjoy his similarly compatible relationship with her day in and day out. The Katzroys complemented each other so well – the easy-going father with a strong sense of responsibility and the no-nonsense mother who couldn't help but crack a joke. And then there was little Dajh, who sat between them happily finishing off his meal, a portrait of innocence. Even though he was eight years old now, the kid hadn't changed at all since the day Snow had first met him under the shadow of a newly crystallized Cocoon. It astounded him how a child Dajh's age could go through so much hardship and come out on the other end completely unfazed.

"So what will you three do now, old man?" he asked in his typical boisterous way. "Can't live in the shop anymore now that you've got your lady back!"

"You're letting my baby live above a garage, Sazh?" Estelle exclaimed with mock offense. "Have things gone downhill _that_ much without me around?"

"For a long time, they had," Sazh replied solemnly. Estelle softened and took the hand he had reached around their son.

"Well, we'll get that fixed right up. Won't we, Dajh?" The boy nodded enthusiastically with a mouth full of biscuit.

"'Eah, 'ah-ee!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, baby, it's rude."

"Have you spoken with the faculty at the university yet, Estelle?" Bartholomew asked. "I have to head over there for a bit to pick up some documents for work if you'd like to come along and talk to HR about your job offer."

"That's a great idea, Bartholomew, thank you," Estelle replied.

"I just realized," Serah interjected, "that I never asked you what you do here, Bartholomew. You work at the university?"

"I'm a researcher," the eldest Estheim said with a nod. "Tenured and everything."

"What is it you study?" Sazh asked as he cut the last bit of Dajh's chicken into more manageable pieces.

"Bioengineering, in a broad sense. More specifically, my team and I are investigating realism in prosthetics." Serah grinned as she watched Bartholomew speak; it was clear now where Hope got his habit for gesticulating. "Our main goals are to so closely recreated fluidity of movement in artificial components that the wearer can't tell a difference between the natural and the manmade, and to invent a material that so universally and accurately mimics human bone and tissue that component rejection becomes a thing of the past."

"Wow," Sazh whistled. "That is one ambitious project."

"Ambitious in scale, yes, but simple in scope," Bartholomew told them after he had finished off his tea. "We've kept our overall goals fairly simple _because_ we know how complex the problems are. But we _are_ making headway, particularly on the former objective."

"Is Hope going to help with your project at all?" Snow asked as he leaned back in chair. "I mean, if anybody has a knack for solving impossible problems, it's that kid."

Bartholomew laughed, beaming with pride. "I actually haven't even asked."

"Do you plan to?" Sazh chimed in.

"I don't think so, no. At least, not for a while. He deserves the opportunity to choose his own path for once. If he offers, I would happily accept… but I want him to explore his options."

"Makes sense," Snow said, his respect for the man growing. He knew Hope and his dad once had a strained relationship, but no one could deny how much the man loved and respected his son. Serah interrupted the moment by exhaling loudly in exasperation as she reached for her purse hanging off of her knee. "What is it, babe?" Snow asked her, watching while she rummaged through the bag.

"My phone keeps buzzing non_stop_," she explained, retrieving the offending item and holding it up as she squinted at the screen, exploding into raucous laughter after a moment. "Oh, _gods_," she sighed.

"What is it?" Estelle asked curiously.

"My sister's in the middle of some personal crisis … hold on, she wants me to call her." Serah stood once she had eyed the best place to take a call without disturbing anybody. "Would you excuse me for just a sec?"

"Wonder what's got Sis all worked up," Snow mused after Serah had walked away.

"Not sure, but Estelle, we should get going here if you want to catch HR," Bartholomew told her after clearing the last of the food off of his plate. "They tend to duck out early on Fridays."

"We can do that," Estelle said with a nod and turned to Sazh. "Do you want to come along?"

"I would," Sazh answered, "but I need to get Dajh and me back to the shop and get everything ready for you. Bartholomew, would you mind dropping her off when you're done at the university?"

"Not at all," he answered kindly, looking up as Serah returned to her seat with an oddly twisted smirk on her face. "Well? What's the matter with Lightning?"

"Would you believe it if I told you that the _one_ way I have ever heard of to turn my sister into a bumbling mess is to have your son walk around without his shirt on?"

"Oh my god," Snow breathed just before he exploded into roaring laughter.

"And now she's managed to barricade herself in his room when she had intended to go to the guest room and she's demanding my help," Serah finished mischievously.

"You know, I always thought those two had something special between them," Sazh laughed, shaking his head in his amusement. "Didn't know ol' Soldier Girl could lose her cool like that."

"Maybe her time as Savior changed her more than we thought." Serah grinned.

"The timing is perfect anyway," Bartholomew interjected, badly suppressing a grin. "I need to get Estelle to the university first and then drop her back at Sazh's, but then we can all go back home."

"I suppose she'll survive without my help for a little while," Serah giggled as she tidied up the table space in front of her. She liked making the wait staff's job easier.

"Why don't you and Snow just go on home now?" Sazh asked.

Serah looked confused. "We don't have any way of getting there, remember?" she pointed out. "We brought your car back here so we could return-"

"Keep it," Sazh interrupted, shocking everyone at the table – especially Serah.

"What?"

"You heard me, little lady," he said firmly, and then continued after gazing affectionately towards his wife. "You brought back the better part of me. Giving you a means of transport is the _least_ I can do."

"Besides," Dajh piped up, "me and Dad are almost done fixing up another car!"

Serah blinked as she stared at Sazh. "But-"

"_No_ buts, Serah. Now you take good care of that vehicle. Treat her good and she'll be with you for a long, long time."

"Sazh, please let me pay you."

The jovial man shook his head to deny her, but paused. "Actually, I do have one request. In exchange for the car, any time she needs fixing or tuning or _any_ servicing whatsoever, you bring her to me and _me only_, and you don't argue with me when I give you a 50% discount."

Snow answered for his shell-shocked fiancée. "Thanks, old man! You're the best!"

"What're _you_ thanking me for? You're dreaming if you think Serah will let you drive her car for a while."

Snow laughed again and glanced over at his girlfriend. "Yeah, right, Sa-" But Serah's arms were crossed and her back was unnaturally straight. "…Seriously, babe?"

"Yup." She drew out the word for emphasis, but couldn't contain her smirk. "Last time you drove me anywhere, I ended up swallowed by a fal'Cie."

"But-"

"Look at it this way – you'll have a chance to practice with directions so you can redeem yourself to Hope," Serah suggested as she stood from the table to collect her things. Snow scoffed and tried to hide his disappointment.

"Keh! Our phones tell us where to go, I can handle that! Just don't hand me a map upside-down and we're good."

"Snow, did Hope _actually_ hand you an upside-down map?" she asked with her hands on her hips and an expression on her face that clearly said _don't you _dare_ lie, either_.

"Well… no, but he didn't point it out when I turned it that way, either."

"Then don't complain." Serah and Snow said their goodbyes to the Katzroys, who promised to see them the following Saturday for dinner at the Estheims', and took their leave. "Now come on. We need to get back before Sis does anything stupid."

"Or Hope does." Snow smirked as he offered his arm to Serah once they had exited the restaurant. "He's got it _bad_ for Lightning."

"Oh, they've both got it bad, I think…" she admitted, happily taking the arm that was offered her. Her mood soured just slightly when she recognized the look that had appeared on her fiancé's face. "_But_, Snow Villiers, we will _not _push the issue, we will _not_ find a billion convenient excuses to put the two of them alone together in potentially compromising situations, and we will _not_ interfere otherwise."

"So… then what is it exactly you'll be doing once we get back to the house?" he teased. "Because it sounds _exactly_ like interfering."

"I'll be coming to my sister's aid, obviously," Serah rationalized. When Snow raised his eyebrow at her, she huffed in offense. "What? She _asked_ me! I'm not going to give her any suggestions – just… make her not feel like such an idiot."

"Ch'yeah. _Right_, babe," Snow grinned. She could lie to herself all she wanted, but he knew better. After reaching the car, he unlocked and opened the driver's side door for her and closed it behind her before taking his own place in the passenger's seat.

"…Okay, fine, I might make _one_ teeny mention of how compatible they are, but that's it, I _swear_."

"Mm_hm._"

"Snow, I'm serious!" Serah was almost outright pouting now, and Snow had to concentrate very hard to rid himself of the idea of pulling her into the backseat with him. Her lips were… distracting.

"If you say so," he gave in playfully, pulling up the route to the Estheim residence on his phone's navigation program.

Serah smiled in delight as the car – _her_ car – roared to life. She still didn't think Sazh had been appropriately compensated to that end, but she vowed to think of something.

* * *

_I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. I. Am. An. Idiot._

This was the mantra playing in Lightning's head as she paced back and forth in Hope's room. _Hope's_ room – not the guest room like she had intended. When she wasn't pacing, she was splayed on her stomach across the bed trying to keep the image of his bare, muscular, sweaty torso out of her head, but the bed smelled too much like him and she'd end up right back on her feet pacing back and forth, taking the occasional break to either bang her forehead against the wall or splash her face with cold water. Several minutes passed like this until, finally, she gave up trying to snap herself out of… whatever she was feeling, slumping down onto the desk chair and holding her face in her hands.

"What is _wrong_ with me…" she muttered quietly, dropping her hands and staring at them. "It's _Hope._"

It _was_ Hope. The boy she had tried to shrug off in her panic in the Vile Peaks. The kid she inspired to dig deep and become better, and who in turn inspired her to do the same. The man who had accomplished so much for her sake and in her honor. The soul she had saved that had saved her in return. Wasn't she _just_ this morning considering the idea of spending her days with him? _Yes, but you weren't falling all over yourself at the sight of him then_, she admonished herself as she stood, finally ready to leave the safety of the room. She thought she should probably talk to him about her behavior… maybe excuse it as a passing illness or momentary dizziness or some other lie to mask that which she was in no way prepared to acknowledge. Lightning's hand was frozen to the handle of the door as she tried to come up with a believable excuse, but she could think of nothing except what would happen to their friendship now. If he had figured out why she had reacted the way she did downstairs…

Letting her hand drop from the handle, Lightning turned and leaned her back against the still locked door, sliding down its façade until she was seated on the floor and pulling her knees to her chest. "Oh, Hope…" she sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"That's your call, I think."

Lightning jumped at the sound of Hope's voice on the other side of the door. "Geez, Hope," she hissed, her hand pressing above her pounding heart. "A little warning that you were there would have been nice."

"I knocked a little while ago," he replied quietly. "I thought you heard me and were just refusing to let me in." Lightning's face fell at the twinge of hurt in his voice… but she still didn't open the door.

"No, I didn't hear," she said after a few silent moments. And, after a few more, "I probably wouldn't have let you in if I had, though. I just… needed to collect myself. Nothing personal."

Hope hummed in acknowledgment, but said nothing further. Lightning leaned her head back against the door, torturing herself with ways to break the uncomfortable silence. "Hey, Hope?"

"Hm?"

"Um…" _Should have thought this out better, Farron._ "How long have you been out there?"

"I came up right after you left. Been sitting against the door out here ever since." Guilt tugged at her heart as she knew she had been in his room for at least twenty minutes, if not more. As if to reinforce her estimate, he added, "I think my butt went numb about ten minutes ago."

She snorted at that, especially since her own was starting to feel the effects of sitting on the carpet already and poor Hope was stuck with the hardwood lining the hallway. "Sorry."

"It's okay. It's my fault anyway."

"Don't be ridiculous, Hope," she scoffed. "I'm the one who lost her mind and barricaded herself in someone else's room." More uncomfortable silence, which was thankfully shorter than that which had fallen before. Or maybe not, considering Hope's choice reply.

"That's… my fault too, though," he ventured hesitantly, sounding more like a nervous kid with a fresh l'Cie brand than the accomplished scientist and proven world leader he had become. "Isn't it?" Lightning felt her heart start pounding all over again and swallowed hard. "I-it's okay if it is," Hope added hastily in a strangely apologetic tone. "I mean, it's okay if it's not, too, but I'm totally okay if it is-"

"Hope," Lightning interrupted, after which Hope fell so silent she was sure he had stopped breathing. She took a deep breath of her own in an effort to calm her wildly beating heart before she spoke. "How do you feel?"

"…Huh?" It sounded like that wasn't what he had been expecting. To be honest, it wasn't what she had expected to ask until the words were already out.

"About… about me," she clarified, feeling oddly cold all of a sudden. She felt silly for being so anxious about asking, especially since she thought she might already know the answer.

"Um…" Hope trailed off and Lightning felt even colder while she waited for him to continue. "Light?" She said nothing, hoping her silence would urge him along. "I…" His voice was louder and muffled, as if he were speaking into the doorframe. A loud sigh that came directly from that space confirmed it. "…Look, Light, I'd really rather not say any of this to a door," he said, sounding perturbed. "Can I _please_ come in? I promise I'll stay across the room."

Lightning didn't know why, but the stab in her heart when he said that was so strong, it actually made her wince. "You don't have to do that," she muttered sheepishly, standing slowly so as not to make herself dizzy and opening the door. She couldn't help but grin when she saw Hope kneeling with his face against the doorframe right next to where the door had just been, especially given his surprise as he looked up to meet her gaze. "Come on in," she invited before reclaiming his desk chair, sitting with her arms and legs tightly crossed. Hope smiled in a way she knew was a mask for his disquietude as he closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Thanks for the invite to my own room," he joked nervously. "I'd almost forgotten what it looked like."

Lightning was too anxious to laugh and instead fixed him with a pointed look to indicate she was still waiting for the answer to the question he had refused to answer from the hallway. "So?"

She watched with a mixture of unease and aggravation, more at the situation than specifically Hope, as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, which, thankfully, he had put back on. He stared at his hands for what felt like ages and Lightning wanted to either jump out of her skin or shake it out of him or both any second just so she could stop feeling like an icicle. When the pressure was almost too much, Hope finally looked her straight in the eye with fierce determination not unlike she had seen so many times as she watched over him from Valhalla.

"Light," he began, looking down again and visibly swallowing before he went on. She thought for sure she wouldn't be able to hear a word he said with how loudly her heart was pounding in her ears. "You remember in the Whitewood, when I asked to take point in your stead?" She nodded curtly, wondering where the hell he was going with this. "Do you remember how happy I was when you trusted me with that?" She nodded again, raising an eyebrow curiously this time. "Do you know _why_ I was so happy?"

"God, Hope, this isn't supposed to be twenty questions," she snapped, but softened immediately in regret. "Sorry," she muttered, looking away from his bemused expression. "I'm just a little on edge."

"So am I," he admitted, but stayed the course. "Light, I was happy _because_ you trusted me. Even though you had already taken it back and apologized, being told I was a burden still stung, even then."

"Hope, I never should have-"

He smiled and held up a hand to silence her. "I _was_ a burden to you. I had been way too wrapped up in my own problems to see how afraid you were, and how much you were suffering because of Serah. When you let me take point, I could finally contribute to your cause as well as my own. When you told me to keep looking forward, and that you had my back… for the first time since my mother died, I felt like I mattered to someone."

"What about Vanille?" Lightning interjected. "She was mothering you from the start."

"Yeah, but that was mostly irritating at the time," he explained. "And mostly because, again, I was so self-absorbed at the time. I didn't _want_ another mom. I wanted _my_ mom back, and I knew that wasn't possible. I just wanted Vanille to leave me alone for a long time… which is one of three reasons why I chose to follow you."

"Three reasons?" Lightning echoed curiously.

"The second was that you seemed to hate Snow as much as I did, and I needed someone to validate my desire to see him burn for what he did." Lightning felt a measure of pride in the fact that Hope's voice carried no bitterness in it at the mention of his foiled plot for revenge. "The third was that I simply admired you. The way you carried yourself so confidently, the grace with which you moved in battle, your resourcefulness, quick thinking, and resolve…" She wondered if he was aware of the tender smile on his face as he recounted his memories of their travels as l'Cie. It both warmed her heart and scared her to death. "The way you set out to do something and just _did_ it. Didn't hedge, argue, wait for backup… you just took action. I wanted to _be_ you, and to do that, I needed to stay _with_ you. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made."

"Should I be worried that following a screw-up was one of your best decisions, or that that's your opinion?" Lightning snorted, more at her own expense than anything.

"Following the most _self-assured_ woman on the planet, yes, was one of my best. Easily ranks up there with not putting my shirt back on before I came back in the house today," he grinned. Lightning scowled and looked away until her face cooled off. "Seriously, Light. I wouldn't have survived without you. You've saved me more times than I can count."

"Are you kidding me?" she exclaimed, facing him again and frowning outright. "All I've done is get you hurt." Eyes wide, she shrank back in the chair just slightly when Hope stood and moved towards her, each step acting as a bullet point for the times he attributed his survival to her.

"Vile Peaks. Gapra Whitewood. Palumpolum, more than once. By that creek outside the steppe. When Alexander first appeared." He had spanned half the distance between them and Lightning realized he was listing faster than he was moving. "Eden. Battle against Orphan. Every time I saw you fighting in Valhalla in the Oracle Drive. When you spoke to me in the time capsule to tell me I was on the right path." Lightning had to look up to see his face now that he had all but closed the distance between them, and he knelt in front of her, sitting back on his heels, so she wouldn't have to crane her neck to make eye contact. "Every time I saw you out of the corner of my eye or heard the faintest whisper of my name in your voice as we struggled against the Chaos, even though that wasn't really you. When you reached for my hand when I came to say goodbye after being cast aside by Bhunivelze. When you used your knife to free me." Lightning had long since uncrossed her arms and legs, and Hope took advantage of this by taking one of her hands to hold in both of his own. If she hadn't known of the physical impossibility, she would have sworn her heart would beat its way out of her chest. "You saved me when you let me come back for you and fight by your side, and when your light guided me to this world. You saved me at the bank, at the restaurant, when I was burning up in chronostasis…" She could hear the faintest bitterness creep into his voice at the last mention, but when he spoke again, it was replaced by a warmth she had never heard from him before. "Every moment we've been here together, Light. How could you have done me any harm when you were too busy making my life worthwhile?"

She felt him squeeze her hand gently and vaguely realized she was trembling and shut her eyes firmly when they started to sting. "Hope…"

"You ask how I feel about you?" he continued, waiting for her to look at him through the blur of tears before he went on. "I feel more gratitude than I know how to express. I feel like the luckiest man alive to have been your partner all this time. I feel joy when I think about all the time we've spent together, and pain when I remember all the time we spent apart. I feel unworthy to be in your company, undeserving of your affection. I feel a heat I've never known whenever you're near…" He reached up to brush her cheek and the skin felt immediately cooler – which she quickly realized was due to the residual moisture of a tear she hadn't noticed he'd wiped away. "I feel empty any time you aren't with me, and whenever I imagine you living somewhere without me, I feel fear."

"Fear?" she echoed in a near whisper. "Why?"

Hope's face fell slightly. "You've disappeared on me before," he said quietly, his grip on her hand tightening as if he thought she would do so right then and there. "If that were to happen when we weren't together, I couldn't save _you_."

Something inside Lightning snapped as she leaped out of her chair and threw her arms around Hope's neck, joining him on the floor and smiling at the grunt of surprise that escaped him, not unlike the one he'd uttered the first time she hugged him in Palumpolum. The déjà vu was overwhelming, and not in a bad way. "Hope, you don't have to save me," she murmured against his shoulder. "You already have."

"Huh?" She felt more than heard his confusion in the way his body stiffened.

"Almost as many times as you say I've helped you." Lightning smiled as she felt Hope's hands trail around her waist and back until he fully returned her embrace. They stayed that way for quite some time, but something else was nagging at her and she pulled back.

"…So what happens now?" he asked, effectively handing the decision to her, even though she knew what his answer to that question would be. Her face fell as she already felt guilty about her own.

"I… I don't know that I'm ready to discuss it," she faltered, refusing to meet his gaze lest it betray the hurt and confusion she knew she must have caused as soon as she opened her stupid mouth. Already feeling the need to apologize, words started tumbling clumsily from her lips. "I do care about you, a lot – probably more than I'm to even think about, but I just… with everything that's going on right now and how little sleep we've both gotten lately, and, honestly, how _not_ used to you being older and taller than me I-"

She was interrupted by his rich laughter and blinked as she looked into his eyes, which harbored not even a veiled pain. "Light, it's okay," he smiled as he took hold of both of her hands this time. "I understand completely, and I don't want you to feel pressured." The warmth of his smile gave her butterflies and she could feel her face slowly heating up. "I don't expect anything from you," he continued. "And just because you know how I feel doesn't mean we have to act on it."

"But I _want_ to act on it," she blurted before she could stop herself, and knew by how her face was positively radiating heat that it had to be as red as her old GC uniform cape.

"Good," Hope sighed in relief.

"Just… not yet." Lightning puffed out her cheeks as she blew the hair out of her eyes in exasperation. "Can we just, I don't know… stay the way we are for now? I promise I'll let you know the moment I'm ready."

"Of course we can, Light."

"Because I _will_ be ready, sooner or later," she vowed, then adding so quietly he barely heard, "since I can't imagine being without you either."

"I've waited this long. I'd wait forever for you." A funny little grin appeared on his face. "If you think about it, I already _have_ waited forever for you, so there's no way I'm throwing in the towel now."

"Good," Lightning smiled, taking the hand he offered to help her to her feet after he stood.

"Now, will you come down and help with dinner?" he asked. "It's been nearly ready for a while now, and Mom is probably wondering what it is we're up to, what with all the banging around you were doing earlier."

Lightning scowled as she shoved him halfheartedly through the door in front of her. "Shut up." He laughed and did not resist as she pushed him along ahead of her, which was mostly to keep him from seeing how flustered she was again. She made a mental note to spend some time later doing whatever she could to avoid losing her cool whenever more… _delicate_ subjects came up between them, because there was _no_ way Snow would let her live it down if she did so when he was around. Lightning was already fairly sure she would get an earful when he and Serah came back and her fist was at the ready should he not let up.

When she and Hope had reached the kitchen, they found Nora had already cleaned up from their first cooking lesson – which is what she had been doing while Hope was working in the yard – and had already finished the rest of the prep. She was sitting on one of the barstools at the island sipping some tea and reading some old book, which she promptly closed as they walked in.

"Oh good, you're out," she said, her mischievous tone from earlier completely gone. "Ready to eat? Serah just called and said she and Snow were about to pass through Alsace, so they'll be here in about ten minutes."

Lightning groaned as quietly as she could from behind Hope and he answered for her. "We're starved," he said. "What can we help with, Mom?"

"Oh thanks, honey. Why don't you and Lightning get all the plates and things and set the table?"

"Sure," he replied, already reaching towards the cabinets. He counted out six plates and handed them back to Lightning.

"Wait, sorry," Nora said quickly from where she was busying herself with the chicken they had set to roast earlier. "Don't worry about getting your father a plate. He had to stop at the university and won't be home until after dinner."

"Then… how are they getting back, if Bartholomew isn't driving them?" Lightning asked.

"Or is Dad hitching a ride home?" Hope added.

"Apparently Sazh gave your sister that car he let you borrow," Nora explained, reaching into the oven for the gratin dauphinois after placing the chicken on the stovetop. The smell was so overwhelmingly pleasant that Lightning felt an uncomfortable twinge under the base of her tongue as she salivated, which only momentarily distracted her from the fact that her sister had gotten a vehicle for free.

"What? What for?"

"She didn't say." Nora smiled as she carried the chicken and potatoes into the dining room on a single oversized serving platter. "But I would guess it had something to do with Estelle." Lightning glanced up at Hope before the two of them followed her with the place settings.

"I want a car," Hope muttered, and Nora couldn't help but laugh at his childlike disappointment.

"I'm sure your father wouldn't mind taking you into town so you can buy one," his mother told him as he set plates and salad bowls at five of the chairs around the table. Lightning followed behind him with glasses and utensils.

"I think I want a bike," Lightning said out of the blue, and Hope and Nora glanced curiously at her, the latter before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"It would take you a while to get into town on a bicycle, Light," Hope teased, "though if both Serah and I have a car, I suppose you wouldn't really need-"

"No," Lightning interrupted, shaking her head. "I mean a sportbike."

Hope's eyes widened, then narrowed as his brow furrowed. "Those things are incredibly dangerous."

"Only if you ride them like an idiot," she countered, "and maybe don't crash them into Vestiges like _some_body I know. Besides, out here, I wouldn't have to worry as much about the stupidity of other people while riding." He remained conflicted despite her sound reasoning, and she felt a combination of affection and exasperation in regard to his concern, but she couldn't blame him for it. She would have reacted the same way were the tables turned. "I'm not asking permission," she added in as non-confrontational a tone as she could manage. She had made up her mind, but didn't want him to think she was completely disregarding his feelings about it. His worry had abated some, but it was still there.

"Will you at least see if Serah or I will drive you wherever before you run out on that thing?" he pleaded with her. Even though it wasn't the most appropriate response, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Hope, I haven't even _gotten_ it yet," she grinned. "But it's just for whenever I want to get some air or something. I promise you'll get to chauffeur me around more than you'll probably want to."

"Oh, I doubt I'll ever not jump at any excuse to spend time with you," he said warmly, and she looked away as her cheeks warmed again, focusing instead on needlessly straightening the utensils on the table. Nora had returned with a pitcher of tea and a large bowl filled with salad greens, placing both in the center of the table on either side of the main dish.

"Things went well upstairs, then?" Nora asked innocently. Lightning could have dropped dead from embarrassment since it was clear from the undertones of Nora's question that her suspicions were anything but.

"Not as well as _you're_ thinking," Hope replied slyly, "but I think we came to an understanding." He gazed affectionately at Lightning as he said the last bit, and she smiled as she looked down at her hands again. "Just don't start planning any weddings or anything, Mom. I _know_ how you are."

Nora laughed and held her hands up in surrender. "I wasn't going to," she grinned. "There's another wedding to plan first."

* * *

Serah sat in the driver's seat scrolling through information about the University of Strasbourg on her phone as Snow topped off the gas tank. They had stopped just inside Alsace proper to fill up (and also because Snow needed something to tide him over until they got back for dinner) and she seized the opportunity to do some more research on the education degree program there now that she knew both Estelle and Bartholomew were working there.

"Whatcha lookin' at, babe?" Snow asked as he slid back into his seat with a bag of chips and a soda, handing her a bottle of peach green tea before pulling his door shut.

"Thank you," she said, bringing the glass to her mouth and letting the smooth, lightly sweetened tea soothe her throat. "I'm looking at the teaching program at the university Bartholomew works at."

"What for?"

"Because I have to have a degree if I want to teach in this world," she explained simply.

Snow's brow furrowed suddenly. "So… you're going to go to school?" he asked hesitantly.

"Well, yeah," Serah giggled. "I was going to go to university in Eden before… everything happened. You knew that back then."

"When do you start?"

"I don't even know if I've been accepted yet," she smiled. He was strangely concerned and she thought it silly.

"How long is the program?"

"…Snow, would you like to read the pamphlet?" she teased as she turned the key in the ignition, smiling as the car roared to life. It still hadn't quite sunk in that the car was _hers_ now.

"No, it's just…" He stopped short and she glanced curiously at him in her periphery before checking to see if traffic was clear enough for her to pull out.

"Just… what?" she pressed.

"Do you want to get married before you start, or do you want to wait until after you're done with school?" The words tumbled out of his mouth with such speed that she had almost misunderstood them entirely. Snow's expression reminded her of a lost puppy when he did that, and she softened immediately.

"Oh, Snow… people get married _while_ they're in school all the time," she assured him gently, still waiting for an opening in traffic. "Don't worry. We've been together this long, through life _and_ death. I don't think a few years of university will be too much of an obstacle."

Snow sighed long and low. "Yeah," he said finally, "you're right. As usual. I don't know why I freaked out, but I'm sorry."

"I wouldn't call that a freak-out," she giggled just as she saw a break in the line of cars and prepared to accelerate. "Hold onto your drink," she told him. "Here we-"

Something flashed out of the corner of her eye and she slammed on the brakes before turning to look in the direction she was driving. There, right in front of the car, was a Moogle. "Mog?!" she exclaimed, narrowing her eyes as she inspected the tiny creature with no wand. No wand... "Wait, you're not… but how can you-"

"Serah, look at it," Snow cautioned. She did so, surprised by his defensive tone, and after a few moments, she could have sworn it _flickered_.

"But… I don't understand," she faltered.

"It's a decoy, Serah," he explained. "Lightning could do that. Which means one of our friends is nearby with power they shouldn't have."

Serah looked around in her rear and side-view mirrors, as well as anywhere else she could manage. Snow got back out of the car for an unobstructed view of their surroundings. She was at a loss as to who could be calling the decoy, but reached for her phone to tell her sister and Hope – and promptly dropped it on the floor with a start when a dark figure slammed against her window. "Snow!" she cried as she whipped around to face whom-or what-ever had face-planted into her door, eyes widening when she came face to familiar face with the would-be ram. "Wait… Noel?"

Sure enough, her time-hopping partner, looking rather winded doubled over with his hands on his knees, rising only enough to smile and wave while he caught his breath, was standing next to her car door, and the Moogle was gone. Serah got out of the car in a hurry, and Snow was at her side in an instant.

"Hiya," Noel said once he had the breath to do so. "Miss me?"

Snow hooked his arm around the side of Noel's neck in greeting before Serah even had a chance to blink. "Well, well! If it isn't the love-sick Shadow Hunter himself!"

Noel shrugged him off and punched his arm good-naturedly. "Oh, I'm sorry, who was it that locked himself in his room because he missed his fiancée too much?" Snow grinned and shrugged as Noel nearly fell back from the force behind Serah's embrace.

"What in the world are you doing here?" she asked incredulously, holding him at arm's length to look him over. "Are you okay? Where's Yeul? Was that your Moogle?"

"A million questions, as always," Noel chuckled. "You haven't changed a bit." He pulled back completely and straightened the neckline of his old silk shirt after both of them had completely displaced it. "One by one, then. I'm here because I'm looking for Lightning. Yes, I'm fine. Yeul is back at our flat in Paris, and… sort of."

"Sort of?" Snow echoed.

"It was just an illusion," Noel explained, then turned his attention to Snow. "I could see you from a few blocks back and was hauling ass to try and catch up to you, but then you got back in the car and I thought for sure I wasn't going to make it. Then suddenly, that little guy showed up."

"Did you feel strange when it appeared?" Snow asked urgently.

Noel's mouth narrowed and he nodded. "Yeah, it did, and I know why. I didn't know I even had any power, but the powers themselves are why I'm trying to find Lightning."

"She's back at the Estheims'," Serah told him.

"Hope's place?"

"His parents, actually, but we've all been staying there until we can find our own places to live."

Noel crossed his arms over his chest. "Does _he_ have any powers?"

"He did," Snow said, "but they somehow transferred into Sis when she touched him in mid-spell."

"It was chronostasis, and we were affected, so we didn't see anything," Serah said, clearly troubled. "Lightning said Hope was burning up when she made contact with his arm."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Noel said darkly. "It's good he's free of it, but it could mean trouble for your sister, Serah."

"What do you mean?"

Noel glanced around them, looking uneasy. "Look, can we go see her? I can explain what little Yeul told me when we're all together."

"We're heading back there now," she said. "You're more than welcome to come along."

"Good. It's gonna take a while to explain all this and I'm fairly sure she's not gonna like it." Noel sank into the backseat of the car as Serah and Snow reclaimed their respective places. As she pulled out into the momentarily empty street, Serah silently thanked whatever was responsible for the convenience as she was sure she would have either dangerously cut off any oncoming vehicles, or collided with one. If there was something wrong with Lighting, or with any of the rest of them, a brick wall in the middle of the road wouldn't have stopped her.

**[end ch. 11]**

* * *

A quick note:

- Estelle's lullabye is an actual (though old and relatively obscure) lullabye called "Moon of Mamaku." I obviously made some changes to the lyrics, but if you want to know how it goes, feel free to Google it! One of the sites I could find (that I can't link to because of FFnet's formatting) has not only the lyrics, but an audio sample of the song sang by, if I'm not mistaken, Zooey Deschanel.

See you next week with my other favorite chapter so far! Leave a girl some feedback if you feel so inclined. :D


	12. Chapter 12: You To Thank

SO many apologies for this chapter being a day late! Some things outside my control went on yesterday and before I knew it, it was midnight. My lovely beta (RainbowSerenity) has had a rough week on top of that and hasn't had a chance to send edits yet either, which I TOTALLY understand and so chose to give her a break for this (super effing long, 30-page) chapter. Go send her some love and fluffs to make her day better! And forgive me if this is a little rough - RS catches a lot of stuff I miss, even after I've looked over my own writing a million times. XD (Which is why she is SO awesome and SO NECESSARY.) (BTW, thanks, Niry, for catching and pointing out that typo in the last chapter!)

Thank you thank you THANK YOU to the several of you who messaged me asking about this chapter this morning! It makes me SO stupid happy to know how much you're looking forward to new chapters every week. I'm doing my best to make sure you don't have to wait long, and I'm up to chapter 16 in my rough draft and RS has chapter 13 in her possession as of VERY early this morning, so we're more or less on top of things. :) Special thanks for all the new followers, favorites, likes, reblogs, whatev, and extra special thanks for the reviews!

Okay - there's a lot of info in this chapter, and I am absolutely dying to get opinions on it. Please, please, PLEASE shower me with feedback. I don't like begging for it, but in this case, I'm totally begging for it. :P

Another thing I don't really do often is dedications, but since she's so damn awesome and was one of my main inspirations to write a big ass, multi-chaptered fic, this chapter is for the incomparable H-thar. If you haven't read any of her fics, you are hereby shuffled in her general direction. After you finish this chapter and send me some feedback, anyway. ;)

And now I'll shut up. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter XII: You To Thank**

"We're nearly there now," Serah said as she turned the car around the final corner on the way to the Estheims'.

"Y'know, Noel, there's just one thing I don't get," Snow mentioned, turning his head so he could see the man clearly. Noel had been incredibly uncomfortable with the car at first, but he now seemed completely at ease. With the vehicle, anyway.

"Just one?" Noel quipped.

"Ha, ha," Snow said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "How did you even get to Alsace from Paris?"

"I took the train first. Once I got to Strasbourg yesterday evening, I started walking," Noel explained, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You _walked_ here from Strasbourg?!" Serah exclaimed.

"That's, like, an entire day of walking, man," Snow added incredulously.

"Not a day," Noel corrected. "Only nine or ten hours, about half of which I did in the dark. Less traffic to worry about that way."

"Why didn't you just get a ride?"

"Serah, I don't know if you saw how uncomfortable I am with riding in these things or not, but-"

"I got it," she interrupted with a grin. "Sorry."

"No big deal," he said dismissively. "It ended up being a good thing I walked since I ran into you two, right?"

Serah nodded hesitantly as the Estheims' home came into view. "There's been a lot of that sort of thing lately," she said thoughtfully.

"A lot of what?"

"These chance meetings… right-place-right-time situations," she elaborated. "Running into Snow at the library, Hope and Sis ending up at the same bank at the same time, staying at the same hotel by complete accident… even us waking up with the closest house belonging to Hope's parents. It's… weird. Things like this don't happen this often."

"Maybe somebody's looking out for us somehow," Snow ventured.

"Wouldn't that imply some sort of deity this world isn't supposed to have?" Noel pointed out.

Serah opted not to answer as she pulled into the Estheims' driveway. Once she had curved around towards the garage, she took note of the progress made on the fence since she, Snow, and Bartholomew had left for Strasbourg. Had circumstances been different, she would have admired what she was sure was the hard work of Hope and her sister, but as it was, there was too much else going on. Parking off to the side of the driveway, Serah climbed out of the driver's side and followed close behind Snow to the front door, who reached out immediately to open it.

"Uh, shouldn't we knock …" Noel protested uneasily as Snow opened the door and marched right in. "…Or not."

"Hope? Sis?" Snow called as Serah removed her shoes, Noel following suit in a way reminiscent of a young child mimicking his mother.

"In here," came Nora's voice from the kitchen. Serah's face drained of color when she realized she hadn't given any notice of the extra body and dashed ahead of her companions, bursting into the bright room to three bemused faces.

"Nora, I'm _so_ sorry I forgot to call, but we picked up a spare on the way back," she said in a rush, just before Snow walked in with the newcomer in tow.

"Noel!?" Hope and Lightning exclaimed simultaneously upon seeing their friend, who waved jovially despite his reasons for coming.

"Hey guys," he said. "Hope you don't mind me crashing the party."

"Not at all!" Nora said happily, stepping forward to introduce herself. "My name is Nora. Hope's mother."

"Pleasure," Noel replied, shaking her hand firmly. "I'm really sorry to barge in like-"

"Oh, stop," she told him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Hope's friends are always welcome here. We were just about to sit down for dinner – would you care to join us?"

"I'd love to, thanks," he replied with a nod, following Hope and Lightning into the dining room while Serah grabbed him a place setting. When the younger Farron walked into the dining room, both Hope and her sister – who she was pleased to see sat next to each other – were looking at her with a combination of concern and bewilderment. Serah shook her head as she placed the plate, glass, bowl, and utensils for Noel in front of him.

"You should probably wait to tell them whatever it is until either Hope's dad gets home or Nora leaves the room," she whispered discreetly near his ear while reaching over him. "There's no sense worrying them. They have no idea what's going on."

Noel glanced at her in his periphery and nodded just enough that she alone would catch it, waiting for her to sit before doing anything further. Nora, at the head of the table in her husband's absence, motioned towards the food.

"Please, everyone, take what you like," she insisted kindly. "Noel, you're our guest – would you like to dig in first?"

Noel was taken aback by her hospitality; that, or embarrassed. "Oh, I don't have t- ow," he grumbled the last syllable, glaring at Serah across the table but getting the hint. "Thank you, Mrs. Estheim, I'd be happy to."

"Call me Nora," she said. "There are no strangers at this table and we're pretty informal anyway."

Noel still seemed a little unsure, but reached for some potatoes first, spooning a modest helping onto his plate and then moving to the roasted chicken. "Does anyone care if I take a leg?"

"Just take whatever you want, man," Snow grinned, already helping himself and Serah to some of the potatoes while Nora tackled mixing the salad with some oil and balsamic vinegar.

"Yeah, especially since Snow isn't known for leaving much behind," Hope grumbled, scowling at the half-gone potatoes. Lightning snorted as she took the salad bowl from Noel, who had given himself a rather large helping of the mixed greens.

"Sure you got enough there, Noel?" Lightning asked him, doling a much smaller portion of salad into her bowl. Noel sputtered some apology or another, which she immediately waved off. "I'm kidding," she smiled.

"They didn't have vegetables in his village," Serah explained with a small wave of the chicken wing she had just grabbed to pair with the piece of breast Snow had carved off for her. "He's kind of fascinated by them."

"Living on meat alone gets old," Noel muttered, and thanked Nora as she poured him a glass of tea.

"We typically have wine with dinner, but we have a special dessert tonight," Nora explained with significant smirk in Lightning's direction, whose face had gone pink. "So, I thought we'd save the wine to celebrate Lightning's first foray into cooking."

"Why are you all red, Lightning?" Noel asked, which only made her a brighter shade thereof.

"She, uh… had a little mishap with the prep," Hope answered vaguely when Lightning failed to respond, opting instead to stab into her salad with a little too much force.

"Sis, I'm pretty sure everything in there is already dead," Snow teased, holding up his hands defensively when she pointed her fork menacingly at him. "I'm just saying!"

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner to help like you asked," Serah apologized, trying unsuccessfully to hide the smirk appearing on her face.

"It's fine," Lightning grumbled, refusing to meet anyone's eye – especially Hope's, who was smiling warmly at her.

"I talked her down," he told Serah, though his eyes never left the scowling woman next to him.

Serah clasped her hands together gleefully. "And?" she asked expectantly.

"And it's none of Snow's damn business," Lightning growled before Hope could answer. "So I'll tell you later."

"Come on, Sis!" Snow pleaded. "You know she's just gonna tell me later anyway."

"Then you can wait," she spat, now stabbing at her potatoes.

"Uh… am I missing something here?" Noel had been staring blankly between his four friends for the entire conversation.

"Yes," Snow laughed.

"No," Lightning hissed simultaneously.

Noel only stared at them, eyebrow raised, but shrugged it off for now. At the very least, he was glad for the enjoyment, considering the conversation they were headed for later.

* * *

The five young adults had gathered in the first floor library at Hope's suggestion once Nora and Bartholomew had retired for the night. It was the most soundproof room in the house thanks in part to the hundreds of books lining the built-in shelves along the walls. Serah was seated on the floor in front of Snow, who had claimed the chair behind the grand desk situated near the center back wall. Lightning had opted to stand against the opposing wall with her arms crossed, and Hope stood just beyond her, his shoulder pressed against one of the shelf partitions. Noel paced before them, trying to decide where to begin and suddenly very cognizant of how little he actually knew.

"Okay, Noel, what's going on?" Snow inquired gruffly, though not without his usual brand of jovial sarcasm. "Waiting has been killing me."

Noel's eyes traversed the group in its entirety and he wished he had Yeul there with him. Had she not been so insistent that he go alone, he would never have left her behind – but insist she had without really explaining why, and she had, without question, left no room for debate. He hoped she would have some answers for him along with everyone else.

"Okay. First of all, I wish I had found you all under better circumstances…"

"How _did_ you find them?" Hope asked incredulously, the quickness with which he spoke giving off the impression that he'd wanted to ask all evening. "Did you run into them in Strasbourg?"

"No," Noel replied with a shake of his head. "I saw Snow as he was refueling Serah's car in Alsace."

"…Well that's even _crazier_…" Hope muttered to no one in particular.

"Why are these not better circumstances? You only made some vague reference in the car," Serah chimed in concern.

"Yeul. She knew where I would be able to find Lightning. I just happened to run into you first, Serah." Noel sighed as he brushed his hair out of his face. This was going to take a while. "She knows about the scattered powers," he continued. "She didn't say _how_ she knew – just that she did. Apparently, they actually belong to you, Lightning." He directed the last part of his statement to the elder Farron.

"We came to the same conclusion," Hope said. "Light was contacted by one of the Yeuls and Caius last night."

Noel's eyes narrowed at the information. "I hadn't known about that," he said quietly. "Maybe Yeul heard them somehow, or was contacted herself…" His voice trailed off as he considered what it might mean for _his_ Yeul if it turned out she did still have a link to her past selves, but he couldn't imagine any good would come of it, so pushed it out of his mind for now. "In any case, all she told me was that it was crucial we find everyone and that we all get together somewhere out of the way. As I understand it, some of these abilities can be a bit… harrowing."

"Tell me about it," Hope muttered. Noel didn't miss the sympathetic frown Lightning gave him, or the hand she placed on his arm. He recalled what Snow and Serah had mentioned earlier about Hope no longer having a power and realized the term he had used was probably a modest assessment of the negative effects these powers had on the body.

"Now I don't know a lot about what's going on – Yeul didn't give me much of a chance to ask before she shooed me out the door to come find you – but from what I gathered, these powers were never supposed to transfer to this world with Lightning, and they were _really_ never supposed to find their way into any of us." Noel continued pacing as he spoke. "The extra energy isn't good for us in some way. And chances are, even though they really belong to Lightning, they won't be good for her either."

The room exploded into a cacophony of worried and angry voices and Noel could barely discern between them. As his blank stare traveled around the room, he picked up something Serah was asking about what would happen, Snow arguing that whatever it was, they could handle it, and Hope telling everybody to let Noel speak. Once his gaze fell on Lightning, Noel watched her carefully in the midst of the verbal chaos. Her head was bent, arms crossed tightly, and mouth closed narrowly. He wished he could tell her something reassuring, but without more information, he wasn't sure how he could without lying to her. Snow and Hope were arguing now and Serah seemed like she was on the verge of either tears or screaming at the two men… maybe both. Then Lightning, ever unshakable, finally lifted her gazed and glared into an empty space in the middle of the room.

"Everyone _be quiet_," she commanded, and at once, the room fell silent. She said nothing for some time along with everybody else, and a point came where Noel couldn't stop fidgeting nervously. There wasn't much that gave him pause, but even here, Lightning was quite the imposing figure. Until, suddenly, she laughed loudly.

"This is the most like myself I've felt since we got here," she mused to no one in particular despite the three looks of shock in her direction and one of relief, but she sobered quickly and looked right at him. "Noel, is there any way we can talk to Yeul _now_? From what you're saying, it seems like she knows a lot more than she told you."

"She thought you might ask, so she had me pick this up before I left." Noel reached into his pocket and pulled out a small camera attached to a long cord. "When this is plugged into the computer, we'll be able to talk to her over video." Hope was instantly on the move, pushing Snow's chair back to make some room in front of the computer tower underneath the desk. When he reached up for it, Noel handed Hope the device and the latter worked to get everything up and running, finishing in no time at all. Serah told Snow to give up the chair, which he did, and Hope perched on the edge of it as he booted up the desktop and opened a program they could use to call Yeul.

"This is probably the most user-friendly program to do this with," Hope mentioned as a small blue screen popped up on the monitor, "but she has to have the same program."

"Oh, we do," Noel affirmed. "It came already loaded onto the computer we got. I just sent her a message to let her know we're logging in."

"On what?" Snow wondered, and Noel held up a flip phone he had fished out of the same pocket the camera had been in. "…Oh."

"I don't need anything fancy," he told them as he replaced the phone in his pocket, knowing there was no need to justify his choice of communication tool but still feeling the smidge of inferiority the salesperson had left him with at the store. "That said, for this conversation, video will make things a lot easier."

"Should she call us or should I call-" Hope was interrupted by a tri-tone jingle cutting through his voice, and with a click of the mouse, the group was face to face with the young girl, looking the same as ever.

"Hey," Noel said as he bent down to be seen in the frame, blocking Hope's view. "There are five of us here right now."

"Where's Lightning?" Yeul asked quietly. The woman in question, who had been standing off to the side of the desk, came around to the front of the screen and leaned down so she could be seen as well.

"Right here," Lightning told her as the rest of the group backed up and arranged themselves until they all could see and be seen clearly.

"Good. I know you've been visited by the other Yeuls and Caius," Yeul began.

"Wow, she doesn't waste any time, does she?" Snow quipped, closely followed by a sound of pain courtesy of Serah's elbow. Yeul appeared to not have heard him; that, or she didn't care.

"That was instigated by them much like when they contact me, but I do not have to be asleep to speak with them," the girl continued. "As such, I can stay in contact with them much longer than you can. They told me many things the last time we spoke." Yeul trailed off for a moment, her gaze drifting to the side in recollection and Noel took the opportunity to cut in.

"The _last_ time? They've contacted you more than once?"

"Only one other time," Yeul explained patiently, her tone a bit softer than just prior. "When they told me where to find you, Noel."

The lone brunette in the room sighed in frustration. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it was _not_ a good idea for Yeul to be in contact with her other selves. "Okay… so what did they tell you, beyond what you told me?"

"Because he told us that stuff already," Snow added.

Yeul turned her attention almost solely on Lightning the entire time she spoke. "Lightning, after you released Bhunivelze and released Hope's soul, you found yourself in the realm of Chaos," she started. The room was so quiet, other than Yeul speaking, that Noel thought he would have been able to hear a pin drop on the carpeted floor. "With the three actions of striking down a god, saving the soul that god had entrapped, and offering that soul new life, you officially became the new Goddess."

Serah let out the tiniest gasp, but Lightning appeared nonplussed by this revelation. "I thought I had done that _before_ I defeated Bhunivelze," she countered. "I was able to command the Chaos right before I stabbed that bastard in the face."

"No," Yeul said, shaking her head slowly. "That was us. _We_ came to your aid." Lightning's eyes narrowed curiously at this, but she said nothing, so the girl continued. "We knew Bhunivelze had to be stopped, and we knew you needed help. So we gave you the power to control the Chaos in those final moments. After you told Hope to leave you behind, our control over the Chaos faded completely and became wholly yours. As you had only just become the goddess, and as you did not yet know how to control its entirety, the Chaos overwhelmed you. That is why it imprisoned you, even if momentarily."

"I remember," Lightning murmured. "But I didn't feel out of control until I saw the fake Serah on Etro's throne."

"Exactly," Yeul said, nodding once briskly. "As it consumed your senses, your weakness manifested as Serah and Lumina and the Chaos took over. It does not like to be controlled. You know Chaos has a mind of its own, and if it senses an opportunity to take over, it will. You needed to be whole before you could even think to retake control."

"So when the young Clai – er, Lumina – rejoined Light," Hope interjected to Lightning's astonishment, "she was whole again… but she still couldn't escape the Chaos on her own. Why?"

"Hold on," Lightning interrupted, raising her hand and staring at Hope in shock. "How did you know about Lumina?"

Hope blinked for a moment before answering. "I could hear you and Serah – the fake one, I guess – talking while I was looking for you," he explained. "I had already turned back for you, but had no clue where to go until your voices led me in the right direction. It wasn't until I saw the light of your own salvation that I could actually _see_ you… but I heard the whole thing."

Yeul took advantage of Lightning's stunned silence and went about answering his question. "Hope, when she saved your soul, she had to use a piece of her own, symbolized by the knife Serah had given her, to reawaken you. Because you had been locked away by the power of a god, it took an equal power to free you. Bhunivelze had trapped you so effectively by taking his own soul and meshing it with yours, which he was unaware of due to his ignorance as to the nature of hearts and souls. Because he had done this, a piece of Lightning's soul, as the goddess, had to replace the piece of Bhunivelze she stripped away to save you or you might have been lost forever. As a result, she was still incomplete even after she had absorbed the part of her soul encased within Lumina." Yeul paused as the hint of a smile graced her lips. "Tell me, Hope – after Lightning told you to leave her behind before she disappeared into the Chaos, just _how_ quickly did you turn back for her?"

"Almost immediately," he answered without hesitation. "As soon as she was gone, I felt something pulling me back and told my parents I had to go. We could all hear her voice calling out the moment the Chaos took her."

"But… I didn't say anything until…" Lightning trailed off, and Yeul's voice filled the silence once again.

"That would not have happened under normal circumstances," she explained. "When the goddess of death grants a soul new life, that soul obeys without question. You should have woken up on the new world with your parents and with no memory of Lightning as the Savior." Hope blanched visibly at this. "You would have remembered your life up until the moment you effectively died in the Ark, and would have thought Lightning to be long dead. You also would have had some vague knowledge, as we all would have, of the legendary Savior-made-Goddess. It was only because the piece of her soul inside you was beckoned so strongly by the whole that you turned back at all. It was that part of her soul you heard crying out, not her – not yet. And it was because you turned back and brought Lightning out of the Chaos that Bhunivelze is now trapped in crystal. In essence, you are just as much to thank for the new world as she is."

Everyone in the room gaped in wonder at the pale man seated rigidly in the desk chair. "I… I had no idea…"

"I imagine you also had no idea that this would also lead to Lightning's power fracturing," Yeul went on. "It is nothing anyone could have predicted or prevented, because your actions were necessary to the final blow against Bhunivelze. But, as each of you summoned your Eidolons to push back against his attempt to eradicate the universe and the new world with it, Lightning – who was not only still a goddess, but one with a complete soul – unknowingly shared her power with all of you to protect you. Hope bore the brunt of this as he was not only physically closest, but was with her the longest. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, because his body – which had been remade by god – could handle the extra power with ease."

"So all of us who were there…" Snow said carefully. "Me, Hope, Noel, Vanille, and Fang… we all ended up with some Savior power?"

"Yes," Yeul confirmed.

"…Well, what about me, Sazh, and Dajh?" Serah asked. "We didn't show up until the very final strike, but we were there."

"You three were also given power due to Lightning's desire to protect you as well, but to a lesser degree as we understand it," the young girl answered. "You have all experienced the ability to communicate with each other in dreams, I imagine?"

"Yes," Hope answered. "We've been calling them reveries."

Yeul smiled in amusement. "An interesting name, if not entirely accurate. I am unsure as to whether or not there _is_ a name which would better suit this capability, though, so if that is what you wish to call them, please do. These reveries, as you say, are an ability the goddess Etro bestowed upon her champion in Valhalla. She demanded her guardian remain separated from her loved ones, but took pity on her, just as she had when she first released the l'Cie from crystal stasis, and gave her the ability to speak to them if she so desired."

"You mean I could've talked to any of them any time I wanted?" Lightning exclaimed. "That would have been nice to know… I would have used it more than I did-"

"Which would have distracted you from your duty, and that – I assume – is why she left you to figure that out on your own," Yeul interrupted. "Regardless, as this was the first supernatural ability Lightning was given, it was the first to fracture, and the first to be given to those she wanted to protect. However, as it was so widely spread, it was given in incomplete form to each of you. That is why you can neither see each other nor exchange all information you might want to."

"Why specifically location, though?" Serah asked. "We could describe places, but not names or anything."

"My guess is because Lightning would intuitively know the location of those she was trying to contact, since she was able to watch all of you from Valhalla," Yeul theorized. "I don't know for certain, but that would make sense." She paused for a moment, her brow furrowed as if in pain.

"Yeul, are you okay?" Noel asked frantically, shoving his way closer to the screen. Yeul shook her head tersely and smiled, albeit weakly and with eyes still closed.

"I'm okay, Noel," she assured him. "Just a headache." Once she opened her eyes, she went back to addressing the entire group. "Which leads me to this – have any of you felt a little off since waking up here?"

"Off like how?" Snow inquired as he pulled Noel back from the computer so they could all see again.

"Feeling unlike yourself, acting strangely, things like that."

"Snow has had a moment or two like that," Hope said immediately.

"What? No I-"

"Snow, you looked and sounded like you were going to strangle that poor Alyssa girl at the Archives," he interrupted, putting a stop to Snow's protest at once.

"Alyssa?!" Serah gaped. "_The_ Alyssa?"

"She works there," Snow growled in explanation. "She came up to snoop around when Hope and I were doing research on where you guys-"

"She wasn't _snooping_, Snow. She was offering to help," Hope clarified. "And, like I told you then, if her paradox was resolved at some point, then she would never have been alive after the Purge and was simply reborn here like everybody else."

"He was right to be cautious though, Hope," Lightning said, her arms crossed once again. "After how many times I had to watch you die at her hand in various timelines, I would have done the same, I think."

"What about you, Lightning?" Yeul pressed. "Have you felt odd?"

"Well…" she paused, hesitant to reveal her weaknesses to one of the only people she had never been able to figure out.

"You did say just a moment ago that this was the first time you've felt like yourself since we all got here," Noel pointed out as she hedged.

"It's just that people have been able to sneak up on me a lot since I woke up here," Lightning finally admitted begrudgingly. "And I've felt quite a bit weaker in general as well, mentally, physically, and especially emotionally… but I figured that was just because of Lumina."

"That is partially true," Yeul told her, "but it's more because your powers were stripped from you prematurely. They should have remained dormant within you until they faded back into your normal life force over time. Since they were given to bodies which can neither control nor safely contain them, they are manifesting here in a world which should be without gods and magic."

"I… guess that makes sense," Lightning muttered. "I _have_ felt more like myself since whatever happened with Hope the other day."

"But you said the powers were supposed to be dormant inside of her," Hope interjected in concern. "Now that these powers are active, will they stay active once she takes them back?"

"That remains to be seen."

"Can I control them?" Lightning asked.

"It… isn't certain that you can as you are," Yeul admitted hesitantly.

"Then… if just one power affects our bodies as much as they do once they become active…" Serah trailed off shakily.

"Then what'll happen to Light as she gets them back?" Hope finished for her.

"That is, I'm afraid, where my knowledge ends," Yeul sighed regrettably. A heaviness fell in the room and not one person dared look at Lightning while she processed the information except Hope. "But I think Caius may be able to tell you more."

"Then how do I contact him?" Lightning demanded stoically. None of them were so naïve as to think she was taking all of this in stride and could only assume she had resorted to her old habit of locking away her emotions for the sake of taking care of whatever needed to be dealt with.

"I only know of one way for sure," Yeul said quietly, her face visibly paling even though her expression and voice remained steadfast. "I can act as a catalyst for the two of you to communicate, but you have to be here physically."

"Yeul, no!" Noel cried. "That is way too dangerous!"

"I must," the young girl said firmly, silencing Noel's protest. "There is no other way."

"But… what it does to you…" he pleaded quietly.

"I'll be fine, Noel," she reassured him. "But I'll only be able to do it this once, and it must be as soon as possible." She was speaking directly to Lightning again. "I need you to come back with Noel to Paris tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!?" Hope exclaimed. "It's already past midnight here and she's barely gotten any sleep as it is!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you cannot delay," Yeul insisted, her tone as apologetic as she could manage to pick up the slack of her perpetually neutral expression. "Please come to Paris in the morning. My link with the other Yeuls fades the longer I am separated from them."

"We'll be on the first train out," Lightning promised.

"I will see you both tomorrow then," Yeul nodded. "And it was good to see everyone else as well." Then the video cut off, leaving the five friends in stunned silence. Serah was the first to leave the room, stifling a cry as she fled, and Snow dashed after her immediately. Lightning, Hope, and Noel remained for some time, still coming to terms with the barrage of information.

"You know," Noel said suddenly, "I want to know how Caius and the other Yeuls know all of this."

"Me too," Hope agreed.

"Does it matter how?" Lightning snapped, both men wincing at the acidity in her tone. "All that matters right now is that we deal with it."

"But, Light…"

"Hope, I want the regular life I had before the Purge, when I didn't have to worry about gods and magic and all of our lives being in danger. I want that routine, ordinary, _normal_ life for _all_ of us. If this is the only way back to normal, so be it." She dropped her gaze to the floor as she clenched her fists at her side. She was angry. She felt cheated. A large part of her wanted to run away and never come back, but she was far too responsible for that, and this was _her_ fault. Just like everything else.

"Then I'm coming with you," Hope announced, to which she raised immediate protest.

"No, Hope. You just found your parents again. I'm _not_ letting you leave them when they only just got you back."

"Light, you heard Yeul," he said bitterly. "I am as much to thank for this as you are. I'm not going to make you shoulder this on your own."

"I'll be there to protect her if anything happens," Noel reassured him. "You should stay here with your family now that you have them."

"My parents are the ones who encouraged me to go back for Light in the first place," Hope argued. "I didn't want to leave them _then_, even with the intensity of the urge to turn back. It was only after they told me to do it that the final barrier to going back crumbled. Do you _really_ think they wouldn't tell me to stay by her side this time too?"

Noel frowned with uncertainty, but Lightning glared at Hope, and he glared right back until she finally gave in with an exasperated huff. "Fine," she muttered. "But we're not going until after we have breakfast with your parents since you're dead set on leaving them so soon." With that, Lightning stormed out of the room. Hope waited until she was fully out of earshot before he sank back into the desk chair, dropping his head into his hands and massaging his forehead.

"That was a little harsh," Noel remarked. "She probably didn't mean it."

"I know," he sighed. "But why does this always happen to her? She deserves everything she's ever wanted, but instead, everything gets ripped away from her the second it's in reach." Hope slammed his hands on the desktop as he shot up from the chair. "It isn't fair," he spat angrily. Noel could see him trembling and placed a hand awkwardly on his shoulder. "It's not fair…" Hope repeated, his voice cracking this time.

"Lightning's one tough chick," Noel said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "She's made it through the most impossible of things. She'll see this through."

"But she shouldn't _have_ to," Hope growled. "Yet, for whatever reason, life keeps shitting all over her." Sighing in defeat and raking a hand through his hair, Hope slumped over and propped himself up at arm's length above the desk. The two of them stood together in distressed silence for several moments before Hope spoke again. "My room is up the stairs, first room to the right," he said quietly. "You're welcome to sleep there."

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"Couch, or the porch, or something. Doesn't matter." Hope moved away from the desk and his friend and towards the exit. "I'm gonna take a walk first… clear my head." As he passed under the doorframe, Hope paused and turned his head just slightly to the side to speak over his shoulder. "And Noel?"

"Yeah, Hope?"

"Thank you… for coming to find us to tell us all of this. I know it must have been incredibly difficult to leave Yeul behind." And then, he was gone. Noel sat alone in the library for some time after everyone had left. He couldn't help but feel sorry for his friends, even though he was in the same situation. He felt a particular sadness for Hope, though. The former world leader had mentioned how Lightning kept drawing the short straw in life, but while he focused on Lightning's misfortune, Noel suspected Hope's straw was even shorter. And, for some reason he couldn't explain, that scared him to death.

* * *

After jogging ten or eleven laps – he had lost count after five – around his parents' property, Hope finally gave in to the fact that his frustration was going nowhere and collapsed on the dewy grass, letting inertia carry his arm until it had flung over his eyes. Not unlike his frustrations, he couldn't shake the guilt born from Yeul's revelations, mostly because he wouldn't have done a thing different. Light had needed someone. More than that, she had needed _him_, and in the end, nothing would have stopped him from going to her. He owed her his life so many times over. Even so – and he knew there was no sense in feeling this way - he felt like maybe he had done more harm than good. It was a stupid thing to think, really. Lightning alive and here with them was infinitely better than leaving her to the mercy of the Chaos, goddess or not.

But what she still meant to be a goddess in this world? If he wanted to be particularly cheesy, she always had been one to him, but in the literal sense was what he was curious about. The impression he had gotten from Yeul was that Lightning was just as human as any of them, or would have been with a little time. Time… the cruel mistress which had, so far, ruled their lives in the most vicious of ways, reducing their number to naught but slaves of her whim, whether in working against the countdown to Ciethdom, jumping across the timeline to restore its rightness, or fighting to give a dying world as much as possible before the end. And now, when they were finally supposed to be free, time was once again not on their side. These powers were wreaking unknown havoc on those who still had them. Snow was exhibiting a noticeable shift in his personality after only using his power _twice_.

Hope hadn't said so in the library with the others, but he, too, had thought more than once that he wasn't himself either, specifically when he constantly second-guessed his actions. It wasn't that he never harbored doubt in his life after l'Cie, but once he was set on a course, he went at it fully in the hopes that everything would turn out just as he planned. Here, though, he frequently worried he was doing something wrong, or that things were seconds from _going_ wrong, no matter what he did. And, if he had inferred correctly from what Yeul had told them, that brand of insecurity came in no small measure from Lightning. She had done more than transfer her power in her efforts to protect them – she had inadvertently transplanted pieces of herself, and she was suffering for it. That said, it looked like it was going to be a whole lot worse once she was whole again.

The sound of grass crunching under quiet feet made him instantly alert and he shot up to a seated position, head whipping around to face the source of the noise. He relaxed immediately upon seeing Lightning shuffling towards him, wearing an oversized sweatshirt that almost completely obscured the shorts she had on and carrying one of his jackets draped over her arm.

"Can't sleep either, huh," she stated quietly rather than asked. He replied with a nonverbal 'no' before laying back down on the lawn with his hands behind his head. She took a seat carefully on the ground next to him, holding his jacket out to him at arm's length. "Thought you might be getting cold," she murmured, and he gratefully accepted the outerwear from her, sitting up just enough to don it and assuming his previous position. They relaxed there together in comfortable silence for some time staring up into the sky, catching sight of the occasional bright light fading to nothing as it streaked across the darkness.

"You know," Hope said, "the stars are different here than back home."

"Hm?" Lightning looked down at him from her seated position, knees pulled to her chest with her sweatshirt stretched over them.

"Not so much on Cocoon since our sky was basically Gran Pulse, but some nights when I couldn't sleep, both on the Steppe and later when I was researching the Paddraean ruins, I'd just lay back and look up at the night and think about everything and nothing."

"What sorts of things would you think about?" she asked him.

"Oh, lots," he replied with a gentle, yet pained smile. "My mother, my research, some of my old friends that found me not long after we l'Cie were pardoned, all of you…" He paused and glanced up at her grinning without a measure of pain this time. "Mostly you."

Lightning scowled and looked back up at the stars, and Hope took the opportunity to admire the way her pale skin almost glowed in the moonlight. Even though half of him thought she would likely punch him if he did so, it still took considerable effort on his part to _not_ kiss her right then and there. Something about the way the dim light shone in her hair and bounced off her skin made her seem every bit the deity she had once been. He noticed the not-so-surreptitious glances she was throwing him out of the corner of her eye and looked away quickly.

"Don't pretend you weren't just staring at me," she grumbled halfheartedly, not taking her eyes off of the sky.

Hope laughed gently and let his eyes follow her gaze. "Sorry," he said. "The view is much nicer down here."

Lightning groaned and smacked his arm playfully. "You have _got_ to work on the cheese factor in these lines of yours," she teased. "Really, where did you learn this stuff?"

"Nowhere," he replied innocently. "I just say whatever I'm thinking at the time."

"Please don't tell me that _ever_ worked for you before," she quipped.

"It didn't," he admitted, and she nodded her head towards him to emphasize her point. "But then, I never thought anything like this with anybody else."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious. Not even Elida."

Hope noticed Lightning stiffen at the mention of his old girlfriend's name. They had never discussed her with Light, and he never planned to, but after learning that she had watched over him from Valhalla, he knew she had undoubtedly seen him with Elida at some point during their year-long relationship.

"Did you love her?" Lightning asked suddenly, refusing to make eye contact but squeezing her knees a little closer to her body. Hope felt a bit awkward talking about it when he had only just admitted how he felt about her, but he supposed it was only natural that she'd want to know more about his past relationships now that she was considering one with him.

"I did," he answered in earnest, wincing when he caught the flash of emptiness in her eyes she quickly masked with her usual stoicism. "But I wasn't _in_ love with her," he continued.

"There's a difference?" she asked sarcastically.

"A very real one, I think, yeah," Hope insisted as he sat up and mimicked her stance. "Elida was wonderful, just as she had always been when we were kids. I cared about her, and always wished her the best. I still do, to be honest." He looked over at her, smiling at the way she stubbornly stared into the vastness of space. Her eyes weren't moving, so he knew she wasn't really _looking_ at anything in particular. "Even so, she knew as well as I did where my heart truly belonged."

Lightning finally did look at him, albeit with some disdain. "So… you led her on?"

"No," Hope said too quickly, but he'd had the same thought after he ended their relationship and had spent a very long time feeling guilty about it. He sighed heavily and looked away from her. "…Not completely," he amended, his gaze dropped in shame. "She knew I cared for her, but she also knew I was in love with a dead woman."

Lightning felt her heart skip. _Did he really… just…_

"And then when I found out you were still alive, well… I guess she knew it was over before I did, because she stopped trying to see me as much. I think. I don't know. Maybe I was just spending too much time with the oracle drive to notice her reaching out." Hope, for his part, seemed unfazed by the words he'd said just moments prior, but whether it was because he was lost in thought or because the words came so naturally to him, she didn't know. He exhaled forcefully and flopped back onto the grass abruptly. "Can we talk about something else?" he pleaded. "I still feel terrible about that whole thing."

_Sure, Hope – how about the fact that you just said you were in love with me?_ she thought sarcastically, but gave him a reprieve for the time being. Again, she wasn't even sure he had realized what he said, and there was really no point in pressuring him about it when she wasn't even ready to hear him say it. She _really_ wasn't ready to say it back. So instead, she settled for the reason why they were both still awake and soaking their backsides in the damp grass when they should have been asleep hours ago. "Hope…" she began uncertainly. "About you coming with me-"

"You can't talk me out of it, Light," he interrupted, the look in his eyes almost daring her to try as he glared up at her with indignant resolve.

"I wasn't going to," she shot back with more venom than she had intended. _Damnit, Farron, when _will_ you grow the fuck up and not always default to the knee-jerk reaction?_ Lightning chastised herself a lot these days for that. She took a deep breath before she spoke again to ensure her tone would be more pleasant. "Sorry. I just… wanted to apologize for the way I snapped at you earlier when you said you wanted to come. That's why I came out here. You said exactly what I would have if the situation was reversed, and it's hypocritical of me to be irritated with you for doing the same."

Hope propped himself up on an elbow and ran a hand through his hair to try and shake off some of the condensation dampening it, sighing in resignation. "I'm sorry too, Light," he said. "It wasn't fair of me to put you on the spot like that."

"You didn't put me on the spot," she said dismissively.

"Regardless, I shouldn't have insisted on-"

"Yes, you should have," she interrupted, "or I never would have given in. As much as I want to keep you safe…" Her voice trailed off as she trained her eyes on the ground just beyond the tops of her knees. "I think I would end up regretting it if I made you stay behind." Hope blinked and said nothing, but did not take his eyes off of her. She could see him watching her in her periphery, but she didn't care. "I'm afraid, Hope," she admitted after a tortured silence. "I don't know what's going to happen to any of us and I'm afraid we're all going to get split up again, just when we've finally found each other. And we haven't even tracked down Vanille and Fang yet."

"I think we're going to be fine," Hope said reassuringly. "We've been through worse things. _Much_ worse," he scoffed.

"But we had way more of an advantage in all of those situations," she countered. "We could actually use our magic without, I don't know, almost bursting into flame, for example. Here, magic is hurting us."

"Doesn't mean we don't have advantages here too," he told her, lying flat on his back once more. "We're together again, and that's something. That's a lot, really. There aren't monsters everywhere trying to kill us. We have access to cars so we don't have to walk and _you_ don't have to ride a chocobo." Hope tacked on the last part for the sole purpose of giving her a hard time. While he and the others had easily taken to chocobos traveling across Gran Pulse, Lightning had never felt comfortable with them with the exception of Odin ("he doesn't count since he's my Eidolon," she had said once).

"Hah, that's true," she grinned. "Especially that last part."

"Chocobos are terrific animals, Light," Hope insisted. "Affectionate, brave, loyal, incredibly useful, and relatively easy to train. I don't know why you never liked them much."

"It was the smell, I think," she replied wrinkling her nose at the memory. "Even Odin stank to high heaven. Besides that, I don't know… I've just never been a pet person."

"That still surprises me about you, you know."

Lightning blinked. "Why?"

"You're always taking care of others, often at your own expense, and more often than not by choice rather than obligation,' he smiled. "That's one of the top qualities a pet owner can have."

"Taking care of pets and taking care of _people_ are two _very_ different things, Hope," she deadpanned.

"Yeah – pets are a hell of a lot easier and they typically don't argue when you try and do what's best for them."

Lightning mulled this over as her eyes traced the stars. "You make a good point." They sat in silence until Lightning laughed aloud, and Hope glanced over at her in question. "We go on the strangest tangents," she chuckled. Hope blinked for a moment before joining in her mirth.

"Great minds and blah, blah, blah."

Lightning felt a chill as it occurred to her that a time might soon be coming where they would no longer have the opportunity for such pointless conversation. That thought pained her, but she tried to shake it off. In a rare moment of affectionate vulnerability, she half-scooted, half-crawled to Hope and laid back with her head resting on his chest.

"L-Light?" Hope stammered, lifting his head in surprise. She could hear the way his heart had started to pound beneath her hair splayed across his torso and vaguely noticed her own doing the same.

"You said the stars were different out here," she mentioned, deliberately ignoring his shock. Hope gaped at her for only a moment before a short laugh escaped him.

"Yeah – new universe, new global rotation, new star patterns and constellations," he listed.

"Do you know some of them?"

"I did some reading about them on the way to Paris, yeah." It had been one of the only things he'd found that successfully distracted him from his unpleasant reminiscing.

"Can you point some out to me?" she asked. Evidently, she needed a distraction too.

Hope was taken aback again, but quickly softened and acquiesced. "Sure, Light. I can try, anyway." Then he added shyly, "But it's probably easier if you're looking from the same angle as me."

Lightning turned her head to face him and saw he had stretched the arm above her straight out, offering it as a headrest. She twisted around easily and settled in close to him, laying her head in the dip between his pleasantly toned biceps and shoulder muscles and trying not to think about how warm her face felt. "I'm not hurting your arm, am I?"

"Not even a little," Hope said in a voice much lower than she was used to hearing from him, which lessened the warmth in her face only to make way for the heat rising from deeper within. He smiled down at her and pointed into the sky just above his feet after searching for a minute or two. "See the big square not far above the horizon? That forms the body of the constellation called Pegasus."

"Pegasus?" Lightning repeated.

"In Ancient Greek mythology, Pegasus was a great flying horse born from the decapitated head of a creature called a gorgon, one in particular named Medusa," he recounted. "Medusa could turn a person to stone just by having them look at her."

"I can think of at least… _five_ different situations where that would have been useful," she quipped, and Hope laughed heartily. When she was joking around, she wasn't worrying herself sick, so he chalked it up as a win.

"Below Pegasus is the constellation of Perseus, the hero who was said to have decapitated Medusa in the first place. Kind of neat that they're right next to each other up there." Hope wondered, were _he_ a constellation, if he would be situated next to Light's star group. _Gods, I am turning into the _biggest_ freakin' sap…_ "Anyway, it was said that anywhere Pegasus struck the earth with his hoof, a great spring would burst forth. He was in the service of the gods until he was captured by a mortal called Bellerophon with the help of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, war, various schools of knowledge, among other things. Bellerophon tried to ride Pegasus up to the top of Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, but a thunderbolt struck near them and Bellerophon was bucked off. After that, Pegasus was placed in the service of Zeus, the god of thunder and king of all the gods, carrying his thunderbolts for him. He was later placed among the stars by the gods in honor of his many years of service."

"Interesting. Kind of makes me think of Odin," Lightning said, her voice laced with fondness for her old friend and Eidolon. How she missed him.

"Me too," Hope smiled. "That's why I pointed that one out."

"Well, what about… that one?" She pointed up to a cluster of stars just above them that she thought looked like her old gunblade. Hope squinted one eye to better follow her line of sight.

"Uh… I don't know if that's anything, Light. But just off to the right of that, those three bright stars in a line?" Hope paused to allow Lightning to find where he was pointing. "That's part of a constellation called Orion. The three stars themselves are referred to as Orion's belt, and they can be seen pretty much all over the world. As such, Orion's belt is one of the most recognizable shapes in the sky. The Ancient Greeks described Orion as supernaturally strong, a stealthy hunter who once aimed to kill every animal on the planet. Kind of funny considering he's one of the easiest constellations to pick out of the sky. Anyway, his hubris angered Gaia, the mother earth goddess, who sent a scorpion after him to kill him. It's said that this is why Orion and the aptly named Scorpius constellation are never seen in the sky at the same time."

"Were all the constellations named _and_ rather conveniently explained by these Ancient Greeks?" Lightning grinned.

"I remember seeing something about different cultures having other names and myths for the constellations," Hope explained with a laugh, "but I read more about Greek mythology than anything on the train. It's really fascinating stuff."

Lightning nodded, turning her head towards him just enough to clearly see his profile, tracing its outline as she had done with the stars. But when she saw him glance over at her out of the corner of his eye, she quickly redirected her gaze to the sky beyond him and a distinct shape caught her attention.

"What about that one?" she asked quietly, this time reaching across his body to direct him, hyperaware of how the motion had caused her own to press against him. Judging by the way his throat tensed as he swallowed, he, too, was keenly aware of their proximity, but he tried to focus on her question instead.

"Which one?"

"The one that looks like a pot."

"Ah," he said with a smile she heard more than saw. "That one is particularly interesting." She watched the stars with a particular determination, not daring to shift away from the way she was draped half across his body as he spoke. "It's called 'the Saucepan', or the 'Big Dipper', but it's actually part of a larger constellation called _Ursa Major_." Lightning rested her cheek on his chest, finding some comfort in the dulcet tones of his voice as the pleasant baritone buzzed against her skin. She smiled in spite of herself when she felt his fingers begin to drift lazily through her hair as he spoke. "The Great Bear. In Ancient Greek mythology, Zeus, the king of the gods – who was a bit of a lech – was taken by a beautiful young woman named Callisto. However, as a disciple of the virgin hunter goddess, Artemis, Callisto had taken an absolute vow of celibacy. To overcome this obstacle to satisfying his desire for her, Zeus transformed his image – which he apparently did quite often – into that of Artemis herself and seduced Callisto in this form, and a child was conceived of this union. As one might imagine, Artemis was none too pleased when Callisto's pregnancy was discovered and cast her out into the wilderness, where she gave birth to a son, Arcas."

_I could fall asleep right here, listening to him,_ she thought. _How rude._

"Now Zeus had an incredibly jealous wife, Hera," Hope continued, oblivious to Lightning's struggle to stay awake. "Upon discovering Zeus's infidelity, _again_, she took advantage of Callisto's exile from Artemis's protection and turned the young woman into a huge bear. Some years later, thanks to some malicious orchestration by Hera, Arcas came across his mother in her bear from while out hunting and was unknowingly moments away from killing her. Zeus saw this, and, being the sentimental god he was, he plucked them from the earth and placed them among the stars as _Ursa Major_ and _Minor_."

Lightning hadn't realized that her eyes had closed at some point during his story thanks to being lost in the sound of his voice and the ministrations of his fingers. Once he had stopped talking, she quickly opened her eyes again so he didn't think she had dozed off on him. "Zeus sounds like a giant dick," she yawned. "Kind of like most gods I've known."

Hope laughed long and low, his hand gently cupping the curve of her head to keep her from bouncing along his chest as he did so. "Yeah," he chuckled. "From what little I've read, he was. But at the same time, he protected his consort and his child – both of which he had many others – and kept them together for all eternity."

"It's just a myth, Hope," Lightning teased, lifting her head to watch him as she prodded his forehead with the tip of her finger and laughing as he gently swatted her hand away.

"Yeah, but that's not the most interesting thing about the Big Dipper," he said, and pointed up towards the sky again as Lightning craned her neck to follow his line of sight. "_Ursa Minor_ has a similar constellation called the 'Little Dipper', which can be fairly difficult to spot. But on the big one, do you see the two stars that form the outer side of the pot?"

Lightning narrowed her eyes just slightly as she picked the stars in question out of their innumerable host. "Yeah?"

"No matter where _Ursa Major_ and _Minor _are in the sky, the line created by those two points always leads to the star at the end of the Little Dipper's handle, which is called Polaris, or, more commonly, the North Star." Lightning followed Hope's finger as it traced the line in the sky, finally settling over a particularly bright star that appeared to be all on its own until she noticed the dimmer stars patterned with it. "It's situated almost directly above the earth's northern axis, and so appears to stay fixed in the same position in the sky. Since it's always found pointing north, people are said to use the North Star as a means to find their way home when they're lost in the dark."

Lightning could see why the story moved him the way it did once he said that. The notion held similar appeal to her as she gazed up at the bright, unmoving star. How long had she found herself lost in the darkness, wishing for a way out?

"You're kind of like that star for me," Hope murmured out of the blue, and Lightning whipped around to face him, feeling that heat inside again when she realized how close her face was to his as she hovered over him.

"'What?"

"You're steadfast, unmoved in the wake of the forces beating against you, no matter how much you might doubt yourself. You've helped me find my way in life ever since I followed after you as a kid. Even in a more literal sense, it was your light that allowed me to find you in the Chaos." Hope cupped her face with his hands as he spoke and she fought her fight-or-flight instincts as hard as she could. She couldn't stop from feeling just a little panicked, though, and her breath caught in her throat when he gently brushed her bangs away from her eyes, taken aback by the intensity in his. "My home wouldn't be complete without you, Light. _I_ wouldn't be complete without you."

She was completely torn between running away and smashing her lips against his relentlessly. He without a doubt meant every word he said, even if he was corny and cliché at times. But that scared her. She was no stranger to what usually happened when she was at her happiest, and fear of _that_ was a large part of why she resisted giving into him and these intense, disconcerting, _wonderful_ sensations rushing through her as she stared into his eyes under the starlight. It wasn't because she didn't want to give in, because _god,_ she did. Rather, she wanted to protect them both from any backlash. She didn't want to lose him. She _couldn't_ lose him. And, irrational as it might be, she couldn't help but feel like throwing caution to the wind would result in exactly that.

So, in a motion that took far more effort than it should have and caused far more pain than she would have imagined, Lightning gently backed out of Hope's embrace and sat back up, pulling her knees back to her chest and burying her face behind them. Hope sat up quickly in alarm.

"Light, I… I'm sorry, I didn't- are you okay? I shouldn't have… oh, god." He stumbled over his words and raked a hand over his face when he failed to find the right thing to say.

"No, Hope," she said, her wavering voice muffled as she spoke into the cramped space between her chest and thighs. "_I'm_ sorry. I don't know how else you would have interpreted the way I acted…" She shook her head continuously against her knees in self-admonishment. "How could I have been so stupid?"

The two sat in silence for a long time, neither knowing what to say nor willing to leave without saying whatever it was. Lightning couldn't stand it. "Hope," she began, keeping her eyes trained on the ground even though she had long since lifted her forehead off of her knees. "I'm really sorry I did that to you. I wasn't thinking."

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said quietly.

"I took advantage of the situation," she continued as if she hadn't heard him. "I didn't mean to hurt you." _Claire, you are _actually_ the worst. You can't even look at him while you're apologizing! How pathetic are you?_ "I'm so selfish…" she whispered more to herself than to him.

"Sometimes," he said honestly, the corner of his mouth curled upward. "But we _all_ are, sometimes. I could have just as easily not compared you to the stars when you already told me you needed some time, but _I_ wanted you to know."

"Well… I'm still happy you told me," she said, risking a sideways glance in his direction. He, too, was rather preoccupied with his feet. "It really does mean a lot to me." At this, he turned towards her with a tiny, genuine smile.

"I mean every word," he said earnestly, and the fear that had initially caused Lightning to pull away from him came rushing back renewed.

"I know, and that freaks me out," she admitted, unable to hide the tremor in her voice. She straightened her legs out in front of her as hugging her knees was suddenly making it a bit difficult to breathe. "A lot."

"But… why?"

"Because-" She paused to allow the cold, numbing wave of anxiety that had washed over her to abate before she continued. "Because every time I've been really happy, something terrible has happened afterwards."

Bemused, Hope opened his mouth as if to argue, but closed it quickly, brow furrowed in resolve. "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to keep that from happening to you again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she scoffed.

"I don't." The confidence with which he spoke almost felt like a slap in the face.

"Hope, please understand! Every _single_ time, something happens and screws everything up," she cried in anguish. She felt her breath quickening to the point where she could barely control it, and the waves of cold anxiety were crashing much more frequently now. "The moment my parents started treating me the way they did Serah, they ended up dead. And not even at the same time, which almost made it worse. Right after my lieutenant told me he was putting me up for officer training _way_ in advance, I found out my sister was a Pulse l'Cie. I finally find her, and she turns to crystal right in front of me, and then _I_ end up a l'Cie. We finally kick Barthandelus's ass, save Cocoon, and get Serah back, and I'm whisked away to Valhalla with no way out. Then when Serah and Noel finally got rid of the one obstacle keeping me there, she ends up dead and _I_ turn to crystal. I finally wake up five hundred years later, but as an empty vessel whose sister is allegedly held captive by a god who wants me to not only save the entire human race in an insanely short amount of time, but wants me to give the _world itself_ more time before it ends."

She had to stop to catch her breath, but no matter how many times she inhaled, she couldn't seem to take in any air, which only added to the panic rising inside of her. She only vaguely noticed how much her body was shaking even though her consciousness felt strangely extracorporeal, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth. She _had_ to make him understand, for his own protection. "And then, I _finally_ strike down Bhunivelze, save you, save Serah, save the whole damn world and all of humanity with it, only to be saddled with this potentially lethal bullshit now!"

The light of the stars, the dampness of the grass, even Hope in near entirety faded away as she spiraled out of control. She felt completely numb now, but couldn't stop shaking. The only things on her mind were the dangers ahead and the fact that, if she couldn't get a proper breath soon, she was going to pass out. Just as she was crashing over the edge, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind, tightening just enough to steady her but with slack enough to allow her lungs to expand normally. Her first instinct was to jerk away, but Hope held fast as he knelt behind her and pulled her back against his broad chest, keeping her firmly against him to ground her.

"Light, it's okay," he soothed, calmly and quietly. "Everything is going to be okay."

"What's… ha-happening to- to me…" she managed, though the way her breath was hitching of its own accord made talking difficult.

"You're fine. You just need to get some air," he reassured her, and she could feel his chest rising against her and falling again at a slow, steady pace. "Breathe when I do, Light. In…" His chest expanded again, gradually increasing the pressure against her back. "…And out," he exhaled.

She tried – she _really_ tried – to emulate his breathing pattern, but she couldn't focus with how lightheaded she was. "I ca- I can't," she gasped, feeling another wave about to suffocate her.

Hope didn't release his hold on her, but extended one hand from the wrist so that his hand jutted out into her field of vision. "Here," he said gently in a tone one might hear a parent use when consoling a child. "Take my hand." Even though it was in her visual field, she still had to look to see where exactly it was before she could grab onto it with both of her own, desperately grasping it as if her life depended on the contact. "Good," he smiled. "Now focus on the way my hand feels in yours and _breathe_ with me."

It took several minutes and a couple more exacerbations, but finally, the waves subsided, her mind cleared, and she could feel the grass under her legs again. What she also felt now were the tears that had begun to fall during her breakdown. "Oh god, oh god, oh god…" she sobbed, doubled over limply, failing to completely collapse only because Hope held her up. He maneuvered their bodies without releasing her until they were face to face and guided her head onto his shoulder, shushing her as he ran his hand along the length of her hair in long, repetitive, comforting motions.

"It's okay, Light," he repeated until it had become a sort of mantra. "You're okay. It was just a panic attack. It's over now."

"I don't panic," she sputtered bitterly, clutching the fabric of his sleeves so tightly it could have ripped. "I don't _get_ to panic."

"Yes you do," he told her with a smile she could clearly hear. "You aren't alone. I won't ever leave you alone…" He paused for a moment before he tacked on, "unless you want me to."

"No!" she cried at once, pulling the fabric even tighter and burrowing her face against his chest. "Please don't… don't leave me alone."

The way her voice broke tugged at his heart painfully. "I won't," he vowed. The feeling of déjà vu, having heard those exact words from her before, was overwhelming, and he held her as close as he could without smothering her as he buried his nose in her hair. "I promise."

**[end ch 12]**

* * *

And there you have it! Lots of info. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK PLEASE. I have been so nervous about this chapter ever since I wrote it over a month ago. XD Unless you're on a guest account, I respond to every review! (PS, Marilia and LeDindonOsselet, thank you so much for your reviews! To the latter, no, I don't know France well at all - I've never been. I do a TON of research, both online and by asking friends who live in France, to make sure everything is as true to life as possible. So glad you're enjoying it, both of you!)

See you next week! :)


	13. Chapter 13: Hold That Thought

Hey all! Sorry this is a couple days late (again :\ ). I took an impromptu (free!) trip to Las Vegas this weekend to celebrate the birthdays of a couple of friends of mine, one being my bestie, and the whole catching up on sleep thing along with the fact that my stupid old laptop won't hold a charge for more than 30 minutes kind of precluded getting this out on time. Blargh. BUT it might end up being a good thing, because now the wait between reading this chapter and the next isn't quite so long!

(Rationalize away...)

My beta is awesome. Thanks as always, RainbowSerenity, for plugging away at these chapter beasts despite being so busy! [less-than-three emoticon]

To everyone following the story, whether you've just shown up or have been here a while, you are AMAZING. Particularly those of you who offer feedback. The appreciation I have for all of you reading and enjoying cannot be adequately described. Also, thank you, Niry and frankannestein, for catching a couple more typos! There's always _something_ we miss as writers and readers, amirite? :3

Enjoy this "little" (10k+ word) interlude in the gang's barrage of new information. The next chapter brings that back in full force. ;)

* * *

**Chapter XIII: Hold That Thought**

Hope watched his hands intently as he fiddled with the tie of his wristband, if for no other reason than to avoid seeing any pain in his mother's eyes. He had just finished telling her that he had to go with Light and wasn't sure how long they would be gone, and though he hadn't looked at her for even a second while he explained the situation, he was sure the silence that followed was a clear indication of their disappointment. They _had_ just reunited, after all. But when his mother finally spoke, there wasn't even the smallest trace of upset.

"Just be sure to call at least every other day so we know you're both all right," she instructed. Hope's eyes shot up in a frenzy.

"Mom, you're not… mad or anything?" he asked incredulously.

"Why would I be mad, Hope?" she laughed. "I'm going to miss you whether you're gone five hours or five days; that's a given. But I can't ever be mad at you for wanting to protect what's important to you."

"Remember what I told you, son," Bartholomew joined in, clapping Hope's shoulder. "You have to do what you must. It has to be your decision, not anybody else's."

Hope glanced between his parents several times, his expression full of worry and regret. "I'm sorry," he finally said, eyes traveling back to his lap. "I know I just got home-"

"You don't have to come with me, Hope," Lightning quietly interrupted from the seat directly across from him.

"Light, I'm going with you. And after we get this business dealt with, I'm bringing you back home."

"Hope," Serah said as she leaned towards him from her place at her sister's side. "Promise me you'll keep her safe. Please."

"I promised _her_ that a long, long time ago," he replied fondly. Lightning smiled at him, albeit weakly. Ever since their conversation with Yeul last night and Hope's subsequent insistence on accompanying her and Noel to Paris, she couldn't shake the feeling that none of this was going to end well. "That's extended to you by default," Hope continued to Serah, and the younger Farron nodded gratefully despite the worry etched on her face.

"Just so you know, Serah can be even scarier than Sis if you wrong her," Snow warned him playfully. "I mean, I don't know firsthand, but if you had seen the way she ripped into Gadot this one time, man…"

"He shouldn't have assigned a thirteen-year-old to work full-time hours on guard duty," she said disdainfully. "I don't care if we _were_ short on manpower at the time."

"He avoided her for over a _week_ after she did that!"

"I have no intention of letting either of them down," Hope chuckled, waving his hands in front of him.

"Guys, we need to get going soon or we're going to miss our train," Noel mentioned softly from his seat at the end of the table, re-pocketing his phone once he had checked the time. A somber mood befell the two departing with him.

"We'll call _every_ day, Mom, not every other day," Hope promised as he stood.

Noel got up as well and went to collect the very little he had brought along, with Serah rushing after him. Snow was gulping down the remainder of his coffee while the others cleared the table and then stood to help. Hope had gone upstairs after taking his place setting to the kitchen to grab his and Lightning's luggage, and Lightning had escaped to the guest room to change since she had waited until the very last minute to shower before breakfast. She was still wearing the shorts and t-shirt she had thrown back on before joining the others for the morning meal, but had already picked out a pair of dark gray cropped slacks and a white silk shell top she had chosen to pair with the beautiful blue sweater Hope had gotten for her. She ran her fingers along the soft, delicate wool absentmindedly as her mind wandered through the possibilities the day held, at least half of them unpleasant, but pushed everything out of her mind as easily as each arm through the sleeves of her sweater once she felt her stomach begin to sour with budding anxiety.

"Ready, Light?"

Lightning yelped in the slightest way, jumping at the sound of Hope's voice coming from the doorway and whipped around to face him. He was immediately contrite.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay, I wasn't paying attention." She smiled once she had caught her breath. "You're not the first to catch me by surprise." Hope nodded, but his preoccupation with something else entirely did not escape her notice. "What is it?" she prodded gently.

Conflict shone in his pale green eyes as he gazed into the concern in hers. "Light, you know how much I want to come with you, right?"

Her blood suddenly ran cold, but she remained outwardly neutral. That said, she couldn't help the slight clip that found its way into her tone. "You've made that fairly clear, yeah."

"Good. I just… I didn't want you to think I was going to leave you to do this alone."

Well, that wasn't where she had expected the conversation to go next. "Huh? What are you talking about, Hope?"

"At breakfast," he nervously clarified. "I mean, I want to spend as much time with my parents as possible, obviously. But they don't need me right now like you do."

"I don't _need_ you, Hope," she muttered, the chill of uncertainty melting in the heat of her embarrassment. "I can take care of myself."

"I know," he said, coming up behind her and examining her reflection in the closet door mirror in front of which they stood. He met her gaze stubbornly in the glass as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I _know_ you can, Light. But that doesn't mean you don't need my help."

Lightning dropped her gaze in defeat. "You're right," she sighed as she reached up and placed her hand atop his. "I'm glad you're coming with me." Hope's resolute expression softened to something more affectionate as he studied her appearance.

"Know what else I was right about?" he murmured, the corner of his mouth curling upward as he let his hands trail down until they rested on the midpoint of her biceps. "That color _does_ look amazing on you." And with that, he dropped his hands, turned, and left the room. Turning her attention back to her reflection, Lightning couldn't stop the burgeoning giddy smile.

"Boy, am I in _trouble…_" she mused to herself, still feeling the tingling heat where his fingers had brushed against her.

* * *

Serah had been sitting on the porch for some time after the group had returned to the Estheim residence once Hope, Lightning, and Noel had been dropped off in Strasbourg, replaying a moment with Noel in her mind.

_"__Noel, wait," she cried as she rushed out after the young man walking out the front door to wait for the others. He stopped and turned to wait for her to catch up before he continued on down the walkway towards the car._

_"__What's up, Serah?" he asked pleasantly, shrugging his shoulder as he adjusted the small bag flung across it._

_"__What's the plan?" She crossed her arms tightly across her chest as they walked. "_Is_ there a plan?"_

_"__Sure. Get to Paris, get back to my flat, talk to the Yeuls and Caius, go from there."_

_"__Go _where_ from there?" she pried urgently. "Back here? Stay in Paris?"_

_"__I think the first step would be to find Fang and Vanille," he answered nonchalantly. "Then we need to figure out this thing with the powers and how to get rid of it after Lightning takes it all back." When Serah remained silent, Noel placed his arm around her shoulder and jostled her good-naturedly. "Don't worry so much. Your sister's tough. We _all_ are. We've made it through the roughest of spots before – we'll make it through this as well."_

_"__I hope so," she smiled weakly. "Just… promise me you'll all stay safe, okay? _You_ included."_

_"__You got it. I'll have 'em back here before you know it."_

Serah had recounted this conversation countless times in the couple of hours she had been sitting there absently stirring tea that had long since gone lukewarm. Snow had come in to join her at one point, but she had sent him away in lieu of spending some time alone. He had acquiesced without argument after letting her know he would be outside helping Bartholomew with the fence if she needed him, and she felt terrible for brushing him off. Regardless, she doubted she would need him for this. What she _did_ need was for trouble to stop constantly showing up on their doorstep. Why did Lightning always have some giant catastrophe to deal with? This world was supposed to be her long-deserved respite, but instead, she was rushing off to take care of yet another big problem. She hated that for her sister. She especially hated that she was powerless to help.

"Serah?"

She turned in her seat at the sound of her name to find Nora standing in the doorway with a plate and another glass of tea in hand. "Oh, hi," she greeted as cheerfully as she could manage, which was admittedly not much.

"I brought you a little something to eat," Nora told her kindly, taking the seat next to her. "Thought you might be hungry since you didn't really eat much at breakfast."

"Thank you, Nora." But Serah didn't touch, or even look at the sandwich Nora had placed on the small side table between their chairs. The seasoned mother sat back in her lounge chair, tucking her feet up beneath her as she lifted her glass to her mouth. She said nothing, opting instead to listen to the ambient noise of birds, the occasional car engine revving, power tools, and the two men working hard in the backyard. Snow would swear every so often, and every time, Serah both felt the need to apologize for his language and fear that he was doing something that would result in him expending powers his body couldn't handle. She had chastised herself once for worrying about him when he was off trying to find Lightning after the fall of Cocoon, but even then, she knew it was nothing but a defense mechanism to cope with how easily he had brushed off their relationship when she and Noel had run into him in the Sunleth Waterscape. He could be an extremely frustrating man to live with, what with his selfless lack of concern for his own well-being, but he was _her_ extremely frustrating man, and she couldn't help but worry about the people she cared about.

"I'm worried too, you know," Nora said out of nowhere, giving Serah quite the start. She hadn't said any of that stuff out loud, had she? "Every day I worry about my two boys," the mother continued. Serah stayed quiet, staring off into the distance with her glass clutched tightly in her hands. "Even though I know they can take care of themselves, things can so easily happen outside anyone's control-"

"No offense, Nora, but is this supposed to be helping?"

Nora chuckled at that. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's okay to worry, but don't let it take over your life." She smiled encouragingly and reached over to place a hand on Serah's arm in a comforting gesture. "Face whatever's on your mind when it's not so fresh. Lightning wouldn't want you to shut down any time she's in danger."

Serah's brow furrowed as Nora's words conjured the memory of Lightning telling her much the same thing before learning she had been made a Pulse l'Cie – words she had later repeated to Vanille, who had in turn passed them along to Hope. "I know," she sighed. "I just wish she didn't have to keep being in danger. Too much of her life has been lived that way."

"I know. Too much of _all_ our lives has been wrought with hardship." Nora watched as Serah chewed her bottom lip in fretful contemplation. "But they'll be back before we know it," she continued with an unfeigned optimism. "At least we all have guaranteed ways of communicating now, right?"

"I guess…"

"So try not to let your worry control you. If my son is anything, it's true to his word, unless it is absolutely impossible for him to stick to it." Nora squeezed her arm in a gesture of reassurance as much as comfort, and Serah felt a pang of longing within the warmth Nora's kindness brought her. Her own mother had been like this, even after her father died. She had been too young to remember her father, but Lightning had always spoken fondly of him before she'd stopped talking about of either of them altogether. After they both had passed, Lightning had always made a concentrated effort to show she cared. Serah knew her sister loved her dearly, but she was never openly affectionate like this. At least, not as often as their mom, or as Nora. It had been a long, long time since Serah felt the unmistakable love of a mother – the kind one who had never borne children could ever truly duplicate or understand, no matter how much one might think she could. It brought her to the verge of tears.

"Hey, Nora?" she said after swallowing through the sudden tightness in her throat.

"Hm?" came Nora's hummed acknowledgment.

"Would you… mind helping me plan my wedding?" she asked shyly. Nora's eyes widened, and as doubt began to creep into Serah's heart, she hastened to explain. "It's just that… I mean, this isn't really Lightning's thing and my mother is long go-"

"Serah," Nora interrupted, her smile radiating, "I would like nothing more than to help you with your wedding plans. I never had a daughter of my own, obviously, or even a sister, so I never thought I'd be asked!"

Serah's gloom lifted instantly with Nora's enthusiasm. The worry was still there, gnawing away at her, but knowing she wasn't alone in it was helpful. She had a kindred spirit in this kind woman, and now, thanks to her, she also had a distraction.

* * *

Noel wandered back into the passenger car where Hope and Lightning sat huddled together over a laptop computer and plopped down into his seat across from them, holding the biggest muffin he had ever laid eyes on. "If there's one _really_ great thing about trains," he said loudly, partially to announce his return to his preoccupied travel companions, "it's the food. Seriously, this thing is as big as my fist!"

"I had one earlier and I'm regretting it every second," Hope groaned, his stomach aching once again thanks to the excess of simple sugars. "I really should've just stuck with coffee."

"No – what you _should_ have done was not mix coffee with a huge pastry," Lightning corrected. "Especially after we had such a huge breakfast."

"Not that anybody ate much of it," Hope muttered. "Except Snow."

Lightning snorted. "I don't know where he puts it."

"Yeah, really. Poor Serah has her work cut out for her with that one," Noel chuckled, his gaze cast out the window spanning the width of their booth with an affectionate smile. "Still, he doesn't have any problem showing her how much he cares, so I guess it's not _all_ bad."

Hope nodded in agreement, unable to stop himself from looking to Light, who didn't seem nearly as irritated as he thought she would be after talking about the relationship between Snow and her sister. Noel seemed similarly shocked at her lack of scowl.

"What, no scathing remark, Lightning?" he teased.

"Nah," she sighed begrudgingly. "He's… grown on me, I guess. There aren't many people I would entrust my sister to."

"Definitely not to me again, that's for sure," Noel quipped, looking out the window again, but neither Lightning nor Hope missed the bitter self-deprecation beneath the half-hearted admonishment.

"Wrong," she said insistently. Noel's eyes snapped to hers in a mixture of shock and guilt.

"You don't have to lie to me to make me feel better," he told her, his tone full of resignation. "I screwed up. She died on my watch, just like Yeul, and I'll never forgive myself for it."

"Well _start_ forgiving yourself, because no one else is blaming you but you," she commanded, defiantly staring him down.

Hope smiled sadly. "We all have things we still feel guilty about," he told Noel, echoing the words Lightning had said to him just days prior. "But there's no point in blaming ourselves for things outside our control – _all_ of which are things we've overcome. We're here now, alive and… well, mostly okay." He glanced quickly at Lightning before turning back to Noel. "Point being, we can't move forward if we continue to let ourselves dwell on the past. We've all been dealt a bad hand – you especially."

"_You_, especially," Lightning interjected, nudging Hope gently with her shoulder.

"We've _all_ been crapped on significantly," Hope rephrased. He hated to compare hardships; they had all been through hell and back, regardless of the individual circumstances. "We have a chance here to live the lives we've always wanted, but _only_ if we can forgive ourselves for the mistakes we've made. Not forget – just forgive."

"That's a lot easier said than done," Noel mumbled after a long silence.

Lightning, surprising even herself, leaned forward and took Noel's hand, holding it in both of her own. "We know. Probably better than most, and we're right there with you. But it _can_ be done, Noel. It _must_ be done, or we might miss out on the best things to ever happen to us while we sit around wallowing in self-pity."

Hope's heart swelled upon hearing Lightning's words, fully realizing they were as much for her as for Noel. He hoped, as selfish as he was for doing so, that she was thinking about him during the latter part of her advice.

"Now _that's_ something I'll never be guilty of," Noel smiled sadly. "I watched too many people die one right after the other, almost all before their time. I will _never_ let time pass me by without taking advantage of every moment I'm given."

Lightning genuinely smiled, nodded in approval before releasing his hand, and sat back in her seat. Hope couldn't help but notice she had shifted just a little closer to him as she did so. "Good. That's something I'm still struggling with, _big_ time, so you're ahead of the game."

Noel sat lost in thought for a moment before lightly slapping his cheeks and standing. "I'm gonna go grab something to drink," he announced. "Either of you want anything?"

"Water would be nice," Lightning said.

"Ginger tea," Hope added, wincing as his stomach protested again.

"Water, ginger tea, got it," Noel repeated, and he was off again, leaving his friends staring after him.

"I don't think he's been in that seat for more than ten minutes this whole trip," Lightning observed, shaking her head in amusement.

"He's used to being on the move, I imagine," Hope grinned, turning his attention back to his neglected computer. He and Lightning had been searching for any sign of Vanille or Fang to maximize their time after a quick nap for the both of them. "Now where were we…" he mumbled to himself as he scanned their most recent search results, but Lightning's hand on his arm gave him pause.

"Hope…" she faltered, eyes trained on the computer screen before she hesitantly lifted them to his face. He hoped his own eyes conveyed the encouragement he wanted to voice, if not for the fact that interrupting her when she was trying to be serious was never a good idea. The battle raging behind the icy blue depths into which he now stared was evident, and how little he could to do conquer it for her broke him. "Hope," she said again, her voice steadier than before and her hand squeezing his arm as if it were her lifeline. "I want to live the life I've always wanted," she continued, echoing his words to Noel. "I'm still struggling… but I'm getting there."

Hope softened as he took the hand on his arm and applied gentle pressure. "I know."

"I'm glad you came," she smiled up at him, squeezing his hand in return. "Don't let me stop struggling."

"I'm going to help you however I can," he vowed. "I want nothing more than for you to be at peace with yourself."

Her gaze dropped in humility and shame. "Please don't make your life all about me when you have so much on your own plate," she pleaded.

"Give me a little credit, Light," he laughed. "I'd be lying if I said my reasons for being here with you were _entirely _selfless."

She laughed – actually laughed, for the first time in days – and tossed his hand away playfully. "You perv."

"That's not what I meant," he chortled, but as they went back to their search for Vanille and Fang, he didn't elaborate further. There was no need for him to do so. She knew his heart well enough.

* * *

Snow watched from the yard where he was working on the fence as Bartholomew took the day's mail from the rural carrier, sending her off with a friendly wave. The two men had been working for the last several hours and the light in the sky was beginning to dim. All but the last of the posts had been set in concrete, held in exact perpendicular orientation to the ground by stakes very carefully arranged so as not to allow the posts to shift even a single degree in any direction. It had been grueling work, especially since each four-by-four post was taller than Snow by at least two feet and made of a solid, heavy cedar, but he and Bartholomew had managed to set over seventy posts in less than five hours.

"Hey Snow, why don't we finish these last couple of posts and then call it a day?" Bartholomew suggested. "I need to mix a bit more concrete, so would you run this-" he waved the small stack of mail in the air, "-inside to Nora?"

"On it," Snow said as he jumped up, took the mail, and jogged towards the patio door. "I'll be right back!" He rounded the corner, his long strides taking him to the entrance in no time, flung open the door with enough force to cause it to smack loudly against the wood frame of the porch, and bounded into the screened-in room, surprised to find Serah sitting there. "How long have you been out here, babe?" he asked in concern. It had, again, been roughly five hours since he had checked on her last, and she hadn't moved an inch.

"Not all day, if that's what you're thinking," she said cheerfully. "Nora and I were looking through some magazines for a while. She just went to grab more tea for us." Serah gently rattled the ice in her empty glass for emphasis.

"What kind of magazines?" Snow prodded.

"Floral arrangements, bridal gowns, hall décor… that sort of thing," she answered, trying – and failing – to sound less excited than she was about the whole thing, and Snow brightened considerably.

"Planning our wedding without me, are you?" he teased.

"No, not… entirely," she smirked. "Just the stuff you wouldn't be interested in."

"On the contrary," Snow challenged salaciously. "I am _very_ interested in bridal gowns."

She feigned scandal and waved him away, which he duly ignored as he dove in for a kiss. "Ugh, you _stink_," she complained through her laughter, ducking and weaving her head to avoid his lips. She finally did give in, but pulled away as quickly as she had allowed him his victory. He was about to go in for more, but snapped upright as Nora came back into the room, smiling as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Don't mind me," she said casually, reclaiming her seat in the lounge chair next to Serah after placing a pitcher and two more magazines on the side table between them.

"Sorry, Nora," Snow grinned sheepishly, standing to his full height. "Bart wanted me to bring the mail to you before we finished setting the last two posts."

Nora howled with laughter immediately, a hand held to her chest. "_Bart?"_

"Yeah! Y'know, the whole name is kind of a mouthful and I'm lazy." Snow shrugged.

"Have you called him that to his face?" She snickered.

"Nah, I usually just call him 'old man' to his face."

"Oh, that's even better." Nora took the hand from her chest and wiped the moisture from her eyes.

"Anyway, I'm sure he's got the cement mixed by now, so I'm heading back out," Snow announced, bounding in with a surprise kiss for Serah." We'll be back in for the night once we're done."

"Dinner's just about ready in there," Serah told him. "Should be done by the time you two finish up." Snow nodded and was out the door in a flash after throwing a quick wave over his shoulder.

"I hope Bartholomew doesn't mind Snow's predilection for terrible nicknames," Serah chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sure he's enjoying it," Nora said casually as she flipped through the envelopes in her hands. "You should hear him and Hope when they _really_ get going." As she came upon one in particular, her eyebrows shot up curiously and she extracted it and the one behind it from the bunch, handing them over to Serah. "Huh. These have your name on them."

Serah accepted the envelopes despite her perplexity and immediately inspected the return addresses. "They're from two of the universities I applied to," she sputtered. "Already?"

"Which ones?"

"The university in Strasbourg and one in Rennes." Serah stared at the paper packages for several seconds, weighing the option of tearing them open against remaining, for the moment, blissfully ignorant.

"Well, don't just sit there, open them!" the older woman encouraged, and with a hesitant nod, Serah did so. She decided to open the letter from Strasbourg first since it was her preferred of the two institutions. Intently and silently, she scanned the body of the letter. Quite some time went by as she read, to the point where Nora was sure she had to have read its contents no less than three times, especially since the letter spanned only the front of one page. "So?" she prodded.

"It's… a rejection letter," Serah faltered, her voice devoid of emotion. "I didn't get in."

"What?" Nora exclaimed. "Did you tell them you know a faculty member?"

"I didn't know he worked there until yesterday," Serah admitted, falling silent again as she stared at the letter, eyes unmoving across its contents.

"Well… why not open the other one and see what it says?" Nora suggested kindly. "I bet you got into that one. And the _Universite de Rennes_ is actually higher rated than Strasbourg." She prayed to whatever might have been listening that this letter held much better news for the young woman next to her. Today was an inconvenient day for bad news. She watched Serah's face carefully as she read through the second letter, and when her eyes widened, Nora jumped on that as a good sign. "What is it?"

"I got in," Serah breathed. "…With a full scholarship."

Nora clasped her hands together in glee. "Serah, honey, that's fantastic! Full scholarships are incredibly difficult to get!"

But Serah seemed conflicted in her joy. "Rennes is… very far from here," she finally murmured.

"Well, yes, but it's not as if your home is here in Alsace," Nora placated. "You have a home here, of course, but you still haven't found _your_ home." When Serah said nothing, she continued. "How long do you have until they want your decision?"

"There's a number listed for an academic advisor," Serah said monotonously. "They want me to call with my answer by the end of next week or I lose the scholarship."

Nora exhaled sharply through her nose. A week was not a lot of time when Lightning was off in Paris for an unknown duration. "Then take that week," she said. "Call them tomorrow to let them know you received the letter, but that you want to talk to your family before you make your final decision and that you'll call them on the deadline to give them your decision. There's nothing wrong with doing that."

Serah frowned in thought, but nodded regardless. "Okay."

"Good! Now how about we finish dinner and start getting everything set for our hard-working men?" Nora suggested as she stood, taking her glass and the pitcher with her. Serah smiled weakly, leaving the letters on the side table and following after.

* * *

"It's just up here," Noel called over his shoulder as he led the way down one of the narrower streets in the city.

This part of town wasn't upscale by any stretch, but it was clean, quiet, and in good repair. Shops and cafes clearly aimed at locals rather than tourists were scattered along the way, attracting a good number of what Hope could only assume were people who lived nearby. The narrow nature of the street barely allowed for two cars to be abreast of each other, much less bicycles, but the latter mode of transportation dominated this area alongside pedestrians. Hope couldn't help but feel at ease; the simplicity of the neighborhood made it seem as if they were in a small town rather than the massive city of Paris.

Finally, Noel stopped in front of a door set back a bit from the shop directly adjacent to it. "We live just up the stairs."

Hope took another glance at the storefront. "You live above… a florist?" he remarked curiously.

"Yeul's idea," Noel answered simply, unlocking the door and motioning for them to follow. "She, or… one of the others, loved flowers. We help out there in exchange for the flat."

"Don't you two have money?" Lightning blurted with complete disregard for how tactless her question came across.

"Oh yeah, but the shopkeeper wouldn't let us pay her. And we like helping out – she's nice, and she has a hard time handling the shop on her own in her old age." Noel stopped in front of the door to the left of the top of the stairs. "Welcome to our humble abode," he said with an overdramatic sweep of the arm in invitation. Hope nodded to Lightning and she awkwardly crossed the threshold ahead of her male companions.

High ceilings with exposed ductwork continued from one end of the room to the other. A modest-sized kitchen area was arranged in the far corner of the large open living space, and on the far wall, windows spanning nearly floor to ceiling, some of which were tilted open on a horizontal axis, let in the light and life of the city. The view wasn't ideal as it was blocked mostly by other buildings, but there was a considerable amount of space between them so it didn't feel cramped. Two rooms were separated from the living space by wall partitions which fell just short of the ceiling, one of which Noel told them was the washroom. ("I usually just sleep on the couch," he said.) The couch was oversized and plush, and not far from it, along the far edge of the room, a small table decorated only with a vase overflowing with white gerbera daisies sat next to an antique upright piano pushed against the wall. And that is where Yeul sat, waiting for them.

"We're back," Noel announced, crossing to her side at once. He knelt down next to her and looked her over, placing his hand on her forehead at one point to the bemusement of their visitors. She seemed completely comfortable with him doing so, though, and Lightning couldn't help but think of how annoyed she would be if Hope ever fussed over her like that. If _anybody_ did, for that matter.

"Welcome home," Yeul greeted, her tone much brighter than the expression on her pale face.

"Are you feeling any better?" Noel asked, smoothing her hair after feeling her forehead again. "Did you get to rest while I was gone?"

"Yes, I did, thank you," she smiled. Even though she was free of the curse which tragically ended her life before its time, she still gave off a sense of morbid resignation. It gave Hope some cause for concern when he noticed how very frail she was. "And I am feeling a little better," Yeul added.

"What's wrong with her?" Lightning whispered just loud enough for Hope alone to hear. He only shrugged in reply.

"Lightning, Hope," Yeul nodded in greeting once Noel had finally backed down. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"I hope you don't mind that I came along," Hope said sheepishly, and Yeul's eyes shone a little brighter as she shook her head.

"Not at all," she smiled. "I had a feeling you would come with her." Yeul moved to stand, but stumbled just slightly as she did and Noel went to her aid instantly.

"Are you _sure_ you're feeling better?" he worried.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I just stood up too quickly, I think," the girl dismissed.

Not one of them believed her.

"Shall we get started?" Lightning blinked at Yeul's proposition. She really _didn't_ waste time, but Lightning supposed that was to be expected from a girl who had lived countless lives fraught with so little time to begin with. Noel, to his credit, opened his mouth immediately to protest, but Hope was faster.

"Actually, Yeul, do you think we could get something to eat first?" he proposed after a quick glance at the relief evident on the lone brunette's face. "We didn't get much this morning or at lunch, so we're pretty starved."

Lightning nodded quickly after catching onto Hope's plan. "I really would rather _not_ talk to Caius on an empty stomach," she added. The outright gratitude shining in Noel's eyes was nearly overwhelming.

"Sure," Yeul nodded. "I'm afraid we don't have much here right now to offer, but I can-"

"Don't worry about it," Hope interrupted. "Light and I can go pick up some take-out and bring it back here. We'd really like to see a little more of this neighborhood anyway while there's still some daylight left."

"Are you sure?" Noel asked.

"Of course we're sure," Lightning told him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You two sit. Any requests?"

Noel deferred to Yeul, who shook her head before nodding once in his direction, and he thought for only a moment before responding. "There's a great sandwich shop just a couple blocks up the road," he said. "We'll both eat anything, so whatever you two decide on is fine by us."

"Great! We'll be back soon." Hope tried not to let his enthusiasm sound too forced as he spoke.

"Just leave the doors unlocked so you can let yourselves back in," Yeul instructed, but she could barely get out the end of her statement before launching into a coughing fit. Noel jumped up and handed her the handkerchief that had been lying on the table before wrapping a strong arm around her small frame, raising the other so as to steady both shoulders while she exhausted herself. When she took the cloth away from her mouth, Hope could've sworn he'd seen the slightest hint of red. Judging by the intense sadness permeating Noel's features, it was clear Hope hadn't imagined it.

"Let's go," Hope whispered to Lightning, who was staring at the young girl in horror. She swallowed hard and nodded, allowing him to lead her out of the apartment and onto the street below.

* * *

The neighborhood wasn't quite as crowded as it had been minutes before once they'd made their way outside. It was well after six in the evening by now, and, as such, most people had made their way back to their homes to enjoy their families and friends. Had they been in town under better circumstances, it would have been the perfect evening to explore this more authentic part of the city. As it was, though, they walked somberly together out past the sandwich shop Noel had mentioned and sat at a table outside the adjoining bakery.

"Maybe… we shouldn't make her do this," Lightning spoke at last, breaking the uneasy silence that had accompanied them since leaving the flat. Hope hummed in agreement.

"I was thinking the same thing," he said quietly. "I just don't think we have a choice."

Lightning sighed heavily in disgust, her nail tapping the polished cast iron tabletop in a rapid, disjointed rhythm belying her frustration. Said rhythm was unceremoniously cut short when she slammed her fist down so abruptly that Hope nearly jumped out of his chair.

"I am _so sick_ of not having a choice!" she yelled. "This is _my_ life. _I'm_ supposed to call the shots!"

Hope couldn't think of anything to say. He empathized entirely and felt, because of that, he _should_ know how to comfort her, but sometimes all she needed was a sounding board and he intuitively knew this was one of those times. His downcast eyes focused on her clenched hand and it took more effort than expected to resist the urge to reach out and take it, especially considering the way it was quaking.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Don't be," he replied earnestly. "I know you must be struggling, what with Lumina and all."

"Lumina?" she echoed quizzically. "What does _she_ have to do with anything?"

"Just that… she was _you -_ everything you saw as a weakness, rejected completely after your mother... well. Once you had to take care of Serah." Hope scratched the back of his neck gawkily. This was coming out all wrong… he probably should've just left it alone. Too late now. "You've got all of that back now after centuries of going without. I know it took a lot for _me_ to be able to keep my emotions in check." Lightning scoffed in spite of herself, an eyebrow raised incredulously, and Hope grinned in his self-deprecation. "Okay, I still can't hide them at all. But I _have_ developed various coping mechanisms over the years. Maybe the reason why you're having panic attacks and outbursts I've only seen from you a handful of times before is because your system is overwhelmed."

"My 'system'?" Lightning derided.

"I _know_, I know," he laughed despite his internal castigation. "I'm having trouble phrasing this correctly." Giving into his earlier urge, he took her hand and gently eased it out of the fist into which it was still contracted, looking straight into her eyes as he spoke. "Look, Light… it's a lot to deal when you haven't had to in a long time. It's okay to let it all out. In fact, it can be physically harmful if you choose not to. When you feel like you're going to explode, or shut down, or lose control, or _anything_ like that, I want you to come to me, okay? Let me be the wall you yell at, or the pillow you scream into so nobody will hear. Even your punching bag, if you want… so long as you don't knock me out or anything."

"I make no promises," she quipped, and Hope smiled down at the now flaccid hand held in his own.

"Speaking of punching bags, do you want to start training with me again?"

"Where did that come from?" she asked.

"It's just been a while," he said with a shrug, "and I'd like to get my strength up… just in case something were to happen."

"…All right," she said quietly, coaxing her hand away from his grasp. Hope could have used himself as a boxing dummy right then and there.

_Way to go, man. Start cheering her up and then give her a straight shot to the gut._ He wracked his brain for a way to get her mind off of their situation, but was having trouble coming up with one. Whenever _he_ needed a distraction, in-depth research was his go-to, but he doubted she would find much interest in that. Unless… what if he boiled down the idea of research into a simpler, more interesting game of Twenty Questions? They had time for that.

"Hey Light, why don't we play a game?"

"This is hardly the time for games, Hope," she muttered, arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Just… humor me, okay? We have a little while before Noel comes looking for us, I think, and we still haven't picked up dinner. We can do this on the way." Lightning scowled at him, but he worked his features into that puppy dog look he knew she couldn't say no to. Sure enough, she dropped her arms.

"Fine," she sighed. "What do I have to do?"

"Simple. Just ask me anything you want," he explained cheerfully.

"Okay. Question – why are you making me play this game?"

"Because _you_ need a distraction, and _that _was a wasted question. My turn."

Lightning gaped at him. "W-wait, there are rules to this?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Hope smirked mischievously. "We each get ten questions, and alternate who asks and who answers with each turn. Any and all questions are fair game, and the other person _has_ to answer. If they don't, the other person is the winner and the loser has to grant him or her any one request. Easy."

Toned arms crossed again and supple lips thinned in exasperation. "I swear, Hope, if you ask me anything crazy, I will run you through the worst circuits of your life."

"Fair enough," Hope grinned victoriously, reclining in his chair. "Let's see… what should I ask…" His first question had to be a good one, just in case Light insisted on a 'mutual' forfeit, and then something he'd wanted to ask earlier came to mind at random. "Here's one," he began cautiously. "How did you know about the phantom that lured me into the Ark?"

Lightning was taken aback and dawdled before answering. "Your mom told me," she finally said.

"My mom?" Hope echoed, eyes widening near imperceptibly. "How did _she _know?"

"She and your dad watched over you long after they were gone," she explained. "The Chaos made it easier for them to see you clearly, so they knew all about the phantom and how messed up you were about it."

"…Oh." If there was something one was supposed to say to that, he had no idea what it was.

"Serah watched over you, too," she added demurely. "She, uh… told me you bought all those things for me." Lightning paused, wringing her hands together awkwardly. "Thank you, by the way. Everything is beautiful."

"You're welcome," he smiled. "It helped, when you were gone, y'know… getting you some things you would need when you came back." Hope tried in vain to keep the blush off of his face. "I had already seen the phantom several times by the time I got you anything. I was hoping it was a sign you were on your way back to me…" Hope trailed off as his eyes fell to the tabletop. "It was silly of me, really. I knew better. I _knew_ it was a trick."

"No, Hope," Lightning said firmly, leaning forward over the table until she was in his line of sight. "It wasn't silly."

Hope smiled gratefully, maintaining eye contact while she straightened to a normal sitting posture, then pursed his lips in thought when something occurred to him. "Light, you said all these things you know were relayed to you by other people because they had all been watching me. You told me once that you watched over me from Valhalla… so why weren't you from the crystal?"

"Isn't it _my_ turn to ask a question? You got, like, two in that last one." Lightning scowled halfheartedly and Hope raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, you're absolutely right. Go ahead. I can save that for my next turn."

"Okay." Whereas Hope had struggled to think of which question to ask first, Lightning had trouble thinking of one she felt comfortable asking at all. She frowned as she ran through the long list of things she had wondered about him throughout their time together until suddenly, she remembered one long neglected mystery she wondered about often when she and Hope first traveled together. "Where did you get that wristband of yours? I've rarely seen you without it."

Hope blinked as he considered her question. No one had really asked him that before, and he hadn't actively thought about it in years himself. "It was my grandfather's uniform ascot," he finally replied. "He died when I was three or four years old, so I don't remember him much, but he was a general in the military. He led the team that developed the first modern airship."

"Really?" Lightning wasn't really surprised there was military in Hope's ancestry, but that close, and that notable? _Guess he really did have it in him all along_, she realized.

"We don't really talk about it much now, just because… well. His accomplishments don't mean as much to our family. What mattered to us was that, even with as busy as he was, _we_ were his first priority. While I don't remember him much, I _do_ remember spending time with him as a kid. After he died, my mother gave me this to inspire me to do great things. As time went on, though, it became my reminder to not become the workaholic my dad used to be, frequently ignoring his family. Now that I've seen firsthand how easy a mistake that is to make, I think about it a bit more often. Just not in a long time." Hope frowned, fiddling with the tie of the cloth. "Nothing will keep me from being there for my family, my friends… you…"

Lightning smiled warmly. "Nothing _has_, Hope. You've always been there, for all of us. Often at your own expense." She took the hand playing with the tied ends of the wristband and held it between her own. "We all know how much you care. You don't have to overcompensate."

"I feel like I'm never doing enough," he admitted, grasping the hand against his palm. "All of you deserve so much more than I can give you-"

"And not one of us deserves _you_," she interjected. The fierceness in her gaze warned Hope against arguing with her, so he nodded gratefully with a smile that failed to reach his eyes. In an effort to escape the uncomfortable turn his game had taken, he stood and offered his arm to Lightning.

"We should probably get dinner and head back," he said. "We've been away a bit longer than we should."

Lightning rose from her seat and hooked her arm around his, and together the two walked into the sandwich shop to place orders for the four of them. "Whose turn is it now?" she asked while they waited for their order to be filled.

"You asked me about the wristband," Hope recalled. "So it's my turn, and my question is the same one I posed before you stopped me."

"About when I was crystal?" she asked, Hope nodding in confirmation. Lightning thought back as best she could to the five hundred long years she spent as a statue. "I think… when I did that, it was because of Serah. I'd just seen her die and I wanted to preserve her memory in some concrete way. Turning myself to crystal was my way of doing that. I fell asleep thinking of her, and _only_ her, so she was all I could – or maybe would – see while I slept. God, Hope, you should have seen the way she looked dead, heard the way the Yeuls taunted me when they claimed her…" Lightning paused and swallowed hard before continuing, but it turned out she didn't need to.

"I did," Hope said quietly. "The first part, at least. You don't have to explain further. She died right in front of me, too."

Lightning looked down at her feet in humility. This man who had been her partner since his childhood… she would never deserve him and his never-ending empathy.

"My turn," she said, forcing a bit of cheerfulness into her voice. "What do you want to do with yourself, after all this power crap is over with?"

"Doesn't matter," he replied without hesitation, "as long as you're there with me."

Lightning scowled through her embarrassment. "Hope, you are making this game very difficult for me."

"Sorry," he grinned. "Rules say you have to answer honestly or you owe the person who asked whatever favor they want."

"One, I'm fairly sure you're making up rules as we go. Two, I wouldn't _know_ if you were answering hones-"

"_Oh_ no," he interrupted. "I'm not falling for _that. _You can tell when I'm lying and you know it. …Mostly because I'm a terrible liar."

"Maybe you'd get one past me since all this affection is making it nearly impossible to focus," she grumbled, but despite her tone, Hope felt lighter than ever before.

"I'm not taking any chances," he grinned. "You'll just have to deal with me singing your praises until the day we die."

"If you're not careful, I might hold you to that." As soon as she'd said it, her breath caught in her throat. It had been such an easy thing to say that the words had left her before really even thinking about it, and Hope was positively beaming.

"Order up!" came a voice behind the counter. Lightning rushed forward to grab the bags, thanking whatever was listening for the interruption. Hope was at her side instantly and took one of the bags from her. Her heart quickened to twice its pace when his fingers brushed against hers - likely deliberately - as he did so.

"I'd like that," he murmured in a much lower voice than normal. It made her lightheaded, truth be told, and she had to literally shake herself out of it. They had much bigger things to worry about right now, even though she _was_ thankful for the informative and surprisingly enjoyable distraction he had come up with.

"Let's head back," she sighed, keeping in step with Hope as they walked as slowly as they could towards Noel and Yeul's flat. Two blocks weren't nearly enough. If anything happened to Yeul because of this… thing, Noel would never forgive her. _She_ would never forgive herself either. "Do we really have to do this?" she asked suddenly, her voice sounding as small as she felt.

"I wish we didn't," Hope replied solemnly. "But everything will be fine. You'll see."

"I _really_ hope you're right."

* * *

Sazh had been up for a long, long time after his wife had dozed off. Estelle hadn't come in until late anyway since she had wanted to stay in the other room with Dajh until he fell asleep, especially since Chocolina couldn't anymore. She hadn't been able to turn back into a chick since they had all come to the new world together, but Sazh knew she'd been working on it. Sooner or later, he was sure she'd figure it out. Estelle hadn't seemed terribly surprised to see Chocolina; mostly, she was surprised the creature had the ability to transform at will between humanoid and chocobo form. Sazh was glad for that. His wife could be a firecracker when she wanted to be. But, for now, she was peacefully curled up next to him.

He'd slept alone or with Dajh nearby for so many lifetimes that he found it difficult to sleep next to another adult body. Even the first time Vanille had curled up next to him in the middle of a nightmare, he hadn't been able to sleep much because of how foreign it felt. He knew he'd get used to it again eventually, but it had been _so long._ He still felt a bit awkward around his wife, in fact –something she hadn't missed and had given him ample grief for, to the point where he'd finally just up and kissed her to make her stop. That had been her plan, of course, but still… now that she was asleep, it felt… _wrong_, somehow, to touch her, or even hold her as she slept. He'd fallen right back into old habits with everybody else when they had found each other again, but then, he'd seen them fairly recently, whereas he hadn't seen his wife since she… well, since Dajh was still a toddler.

Sighing in defeat, Sazh fell back and let the back of his follicle-cushioned head bump quietly against the wall. _Come on, old man_, he admonished himself. _You gotta get over this. She's your _wife_, damnit. It's not like you haven't touched her before._

He'd had that argument with himself at least four times since Bartholomew had dropped her off, but every time, he came out on the losing side. Against _himself_. Thinking himself truly hopeless, he eventually felt like he might be able to get some sleep and allowed his eyes to drift closed. Maybe he would come to his senses in the morning.

* * *

_Knock, knock, old man!_

Sazh's eyes flew open at the sound of the familiar, bubbly voice, but he found his surroundings… unexpected. Hadn't he just been in bed, and not in the middle of a steam bath? Not that he would take a bath fully clothed, but he supposed stranger things had happened. "Vanille? That you?"

_Oh good, you can hear me!_

Sazh thought it was strange that he couldn't see her, but stranger still that her voice seemed to be coming not just from all around him, but from inside his head. "This is one _crazy_ dream, Vanille," he muttered into the mist. "That'll teach me to have a dark beer before bed-"

_It's no dream, Sazh,_ Vanille said. _I'm not sure how, but I _am_ actually talking to you._

"Well… where are you? Have the others found you yet?"

_The others?_ her voice repeated. _No, I haven't seen anyone else except Fang, who showed up shortly after I woke up with one of her old Monoculus friends._

"Do you have access to a computer?" Sazh asked.

_I think Adonis does,_ she said uncertainly._ Oh, and Adonis was Fang's second-in-command of their old gang, in case you didn't know._

"Good. I have my own business here in… town, which I can't seem to remember the name of right now…"

_Oh, that's all right – I can't remember where we are either!_ she chirped. _Maybe it's these clouds?_

Sazh shook his head in amusement. "That, or we're both so damn old that this dream thing is one big senior moment. Anyway, I've got a guy setting up a website for the shop. Should be up and running within the week. After that, look up my name and give me a call so we can find you two. Or, I guess, three."

_That I can do._

Sazh was pleased that the girl's unending optimism hadn't left her during her stint as a captive of the Order of Salvation. Vanille just wasn't Vanille unless her effervescence was borderline maddening.

"So what exactly _is_ this place?" he asked out of the blue, spinning on the spot to take in his surroundings, which consisted solely of this fog stuff. "Seems like somebody left the hot water on too long."

_I'm not sure, _she admitted. _I've never seen anything like it before._

"You mean it's not one of your fancy Pulse things nobody really understands?"

_Afraid not_, she giggled. _But you know, it's _almost_ like when we were in crystal for all those centuries. We could reach out and talk to people inside their minds, sometimes even appear to them if they're dreaming too. But… I can't seem to do that here. I know I'm asleep, and I can only assume you are too, but the dream seems to be out of our control._

"Maybe that's just as well," Sazh sighed with a shake of his head. It occurred to him that he should probably be a bit more alarmed at his current situation, but he'd had enough worrying for one day. It was then that he felt a strong pull behind his navel, and he intuitively knew it was time to leave.

"Vanille!" he called. "I think I'm waking up or something. Don't forget to look me up!"

_I won't, Sazh – I promise!_ Her words sounded much farther away as the mists began to fade around him. _We'll see you soon!_

* * *

Sazh jumped as his consciousness reentered his body. "See you soon, Vanille," he mumbled as his heart rate returned to normal.

"Should I be offended that you're waking up out of a dead sleep saying some other woman's name?"

Sazh jumped again, this time at his wife's drowsy, yet warning voice, and chuckled. "No, Estelle. She was one of the other l'Cie I traveled with; one of the two none of us have found yet. Good kid. We went through a lot together. Somehow we just… talked to each other in a dream."

"Anything good come of it?" she asked. Sazh allowed himself a moment to marvel at how implicitly she trusted him. That, or she was humoring him while secretly thinking he was crazy.

"Other than knowing she's okay, not really. I did tell her to look me up once the shop's website goes live so we can find her and Fang. I guess we'll know after that if I really did talk to her or if I'm going senile in my old age."

"You're not _that_ old," Estelle laughed. "You are lookin' a little rough around the edges, though. Go back to sleep with me or it'll get worse."

Sazh laughed low and quiet as Estelle wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his chest while he settled down under the old comforter. He lazily ran his fingers up and down the back of her neck and upper spine, relaxing to the sound of her deep, even breathing. He was still hesitant to do anything else, though.

"What's wrong, baby?" Her question pierced through his thoughts as easily as the silence. She had always been unnaturally perceptive – a trait Dajh had inherited – so it came as no surprise that she could tell something was up, even after all the time they'd spent apart.

"It's nothing, Essie. Just… not quite used to you being next to me is all." Sazh winced as she propped herself up on an elbow and stared at him, refusing to meet her gaze. That had come out a lot harsher than he had intended.

"Didn't I tell you to _get_ used to it, Katzroy?" Estelle reminded him playfully. "I'm not going anywhere now that I've found you boys again."

"I know, and I don't want you to," he placated. "I've just been on my own for so long, other than Dajh. Kinda feels like cheating to have you back just like that."

"Well, what else were you expecting?" she laughed.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting you either way," he admitted. "I thought, since you… died so long ago, you wouldn't be coming back at all."

Estelle sighed heavily and sat up properly, leaning her head against Sazh's bare shoulder. Her hair tickled against his face and intermixed with his own, slightly graying coiffure. "Look, honey, I'm sure I don't know how all this rebirth stuff works. Like, who gets picked to show up as they were, and who is reborn anew? All I know is that I'm here, you're here, and Dajh is here. Even Chocolina, since she's a part of the family now. That's all I need, and that's all you should need."

"Well, I _do _need to help find the rest of the extended family," he smiled, thinking of the two Pulsian women who, hopefully, weren't far from being reunited with group. "I owe them. _We_ owe them."

"I know, but that's not what I mean." Estelle reached down and poked the thin layer of fat overlying what, in his younger days, had been a carefully maintained set of washboard abs. "I mean _here_. You haven't so much as made a move on me after this many years apart! I'm starting to feel a little offended." Sazh picked up on the lighthearted nature of her complaint, but he knew she was right. He felt awful about it, and no explanation would suffice.

"Trust me when I say it's not you that's the problem," he muttered disparagingly. "It feels… I don't know. Odd." Sazh turned to face her as she gazed up at him and placed a chaste kiss to her brow. "Like I should take you out to dinner first or something."

Estelle snickered at that. "We have an eight-year-old. Little late for courting, don't you think?"

"No," Sazh breathed. She'd just solved his problem for him. "It's _not _too late for that." Straightening his back and pulling his shoulders into proper alignment, he cleared his throat with exaggerated dignity. "Miss Estelle Vivienne Katzroy, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner tomorrow night?"

Estelle raised her eyebrow mischievously and mimicked his cavalier stance. "Mister Katzroy, I would love to accompany you for dinner tomorrow night, but I'm afraid I have plans with my husband."

"Is that right," he teased as he propelled her back onto the bed. "What if your husband has plans of his own?"

"If they don't include propositioning his wife, I'm afraid they are poor plans indeed."

As they laughed together, Sazh fondly recalled that Estelle had always spurred him into some silliness to get him to relax. He was glad that hadn't changed about her. From what he could tell, _nothing _about her had changed – only he had, for the better.

Barring his old horrible luck – which he hoped against hope hadn't followed him to this world – everything was going to be _just_ fine.

**[end ch 13]**

* * *

That's it for this week! The next chapter WILL be out on Sunday, so help me...

Hope you enjoyed this week's update! Let me know what you think!


	14. Chapter 14: Brainwascht

AHHHH all the new reviews and favorites and likes and follows and reblogs etc make me SO HAPPY. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart for continuing to follow and enjoy the story! The theories, critiques, typo alerts (THANK YOU ESPECIALLY FOR THESE. I _think_ I've finally figured out how to fix them for sure... FFnet's interface is silly sometimes), flailing, outbursts, letting me know what really resonates with each of you... I LOVE IT ALL. Please keep it coming, especially after this chapter. It really picks up where 12 left off and I'm dying to know what you all think.

This chapter is quite a bit shorter than the last. Still really long, because I don't know how to shut up, but it won't take as much time to get through. This chapter rounds out the halfway point of (this part of) the story, so chapter length should hover around 6-9k for a few weeks.

BEST BETA IS THE BEST. Thank you, RainbowSerenity! Give the lady some love, readers (and this chapter too when you finish reading it okay thx i love you guys).

* * *

**Chapter XIV: Brainwascht**

"Snow, wake up," Serah urged, poking the man dozing away on the lounge chair in the guest room. Nora had said many times that she didn't mind the two of them sharing the room ("You _are_ engaged, after all"), but Serah still felt awkward sharing a bed inside someone else's home when they weren't married yet, and had said as much to her fiancé. As such, he had insisted on taking the chair, which unfortunately had done nothing to help his snoring until she had belted him with a pillow around two in the morning. What it _did_ help with was rousing him from sleep; at the moment, he was already stretching to full length, when he normally took at least fifteen minutes to reach full consciousness.

"What time is it, babe?" he yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Nearly seven-thirty," she told him. "I just got a text from Sazh asking him to call me about something, but I wanted to make sure you were up before I did."

"Huh. Wonder what's up."

"I'll let you know after I talk to him. I'm going to try and call Sis too, but breakfast is almost ready if you want to head on downstairs and help." She smiled in contentment as Snow leaned over to kiss her before standing.

"Don't take long," he told her longingly, grinning and lightly tapping her backside when she rolled her eyes in response, and left the room.

Serah touched her fingertip to Sazh's speed dial entry on her phone screen and heard only one ring before he answered.

"_Serah! Thanks for calling back so fast._"

"No problem, Sazh," she smiled, knowing he would hear it. "What's up?"

"_This might sound crazy, but… have you ever had a dream where you thought you might have been actually talking to somebody else?"_

The odd combination of excitement and dread she felt upon hearing his question left her reeling to the point where sitting on the edge of the chair Snow had just vacated was a necessity. _He has some power too, then…_ "That's not crazy at all! We've all had them. Sis and Hope are calling them 'reveries'," she explained. "There are some good and… not-so-good things about having them, but I'll have to explain to you in person. Who did you talk to?"

"_Vanille, of all people! I know nobody's found her or Fang yet. My luck must be _way _better here than-"_

"You talked to Vanille?" Serah interrupted excitedly. "What did she say? How is she? _Where _is she? Is Fang with her?"

"_Hold on there, missy,_" Sazh laughed. _"My old mind can't handle fifty questions at once."_

"Sorry," she giggled nervously. "Bad habit."

"_I wouldn't say _bad_," _the jovial man said reassuringly. "_You just get a little excited is all. –Uh, hold on…"_ Serah smiled fondly upon hearing two familiar voices calling her name on Sazh's end of the line. "_Okay, okay! Estelle and Dajh say hi, Serah."_

"Hi!" Serah called into the phone, hoping her voice would carry enough for them to hear. "How was the first night all together?"

"_Great! Dajh is adjusting really well."_

Serah could hear the hesitation in his voice. "And what about you?"

There was a heavy sigh in the receiver. "_Nothing gets past you, does it?"_ he chuckled mirthlessly. "_It was just a little strange having someone else next to me for the first time in ages."_

"I know what you mean," she said. She really did.

"_Nothing I won't get used to soon enough, though. Anyway, about Vanille-"_

"Yes!" That probably sounded a little too enthusiastic, but she didn't particularly want either of them to dwell on awkward situations. "What did she say?"

"_Just that she and Fang are okay, and one of Fang's old gang buddies is with them – Adonis, I think she said? Anyway, we couldn't seem to remember where we were when we tried to tell each other."_

"That's a side effect of the reverie state," Serah explained. "For whatever reason, no one can say where they are or where they're going. Nobody _really _knows why, though we do have some theories."

"_That's a relief. I thought my age was finally catching up to me. Anyway, I told her my shop's website was going up in about a week, and to call me when she found it."_

"Great! That's _great_, Sazh!" Serah allowed herself a moment to bask in the relief washing over her. They would all _finally_ be back together soon. "I'll call Sis right away to let her know!"

_"__She's not right there with you?"_

"No – she and Hope had to go to Paris with Noel…" She hesitated as her worry bubbled to the surface for just a moment before she managed to dismiss it. "That all ties into the big story with the reveries and everything, though. It'll be so much easier to explain it all in person."

"_So next Saturday, then? Unless you all want to come up here for a visit,_" he hinted, and she laughed.

"We have to pick up Sis and Hope when they get back, which hopefully will be before next Saturday so we'll swing by then, okay?"

"_Sounds good. I'll let you go, then. Got a hungry and impatient little man tugging at me right now- just a minute, Dajh, I'm almost done!"_

"All right," she giggled. "See you all soon, Sazh!"

She hung up on the man arguing with his son and immediately dialed her sister. Ring after ring she waited… surely they were up by now, right?

"_You have reached the voice mailbox of-"_

Serah groaned as the automated voice gave 'press one to leave a message' instructions. Recording her own voicemail message had been one of the first things she'd done after getting a phone since the default was so impersonal, but she supposed it was just like Lightning to not be bothered with such trivial matters. Finally, the _beep_ sounded and Serah spoke quickly.

"Hey Sis, it's me. Sazh just called and said he had a reverie with Vanille, who is _definitely_ with Fang, and that he told her to keep an eye out for his shop's website going up in a week. So we should be hearing from them soon! Call me when you get this, okay? Let me know how the thing went with Yeul so I can stop worrying so much. Love you, Sis."

She ended the call feeling worse than she had when it began. She was no longer a seeress, but she couldn't deny the sense of foreboding pitting in her stomach. All she could do was pray to whatever might be listening that she was wrong, but deep down, she knew things were going to get a lot worse for their number before they got better.

* * *

Noel leaned back in his chair and stretched his aching neck and back as best he could. He hadn't gotten much rest thanks to waking up constantly to check on Yeul, but as the night had progressed, she'd managed to almost fully regain what vitality had left her in the short time they'd been apart. He felt endlessly guilty for not insisting she go with him to find Lightning, but for such a small thing, Yeul sure could be stubborn… even a little scary. The smattering of blood she had coughed into her handkerchief last night, though, had terrified him. He'd seen more than one person do that in his life, and it usually ended in a memorial pyre before too long. For hours after Yeul had drifted into a fitful sleep, he had despaired over that handkerchief. Yeul only _just_ reentered his life, and now it seemed he was destined to lose her again.

_No,_ he thought angrily. _I am_ not_ gonna lose her again. No matter what._

Barely conscious stirring of the girl in question brought him back from his introspection. He bent over her in concern and checked her over carefully, holding the back of his hand to her cheeks and forehead as her eyes fluttered open. "Morning," he murmured warmly in an attempt to disguise his misgivings. "How are you feeling today?"

"Much better, thank you," she replied with her typical politeness. "Though I would have preferred to conference with Caius and the others last night, I'm glad Hope and Lightning convinced us to wait."

"Didn't take much convincing for me, after seeing the napkin," Noel muttered darkly. "How long has _that_ been going on?"

"That was only the second or third time," she insisted, and Noel visibly blanched. She raised a hand to weakly, yet reassuringly pat his cheek. "I'm sure I'll feel much better once my ability to communicate with the Unseen Realm wears off completely."

"I sure hope so," he sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you again on my watch." Noel couldn't bring himself to return the smile she gave him. The situation was far too precarious to relax just yet.

* * *

In the living room, Hope had been lying awake for the last couple of hours, either considering the present circumstances or watching Lightning as she slept on the bedroll next to him. Mostly the latter, really, especially after the sun first started peeking through the windows, illuminating each delicate strand of rose-colored hair, catching each long, dark eyelash, and giving her skin a brilliant, beautiful glow. He imagined that this is how she would have looked as a goddess, even in the darkness of Chaos, had things gone that route. He also made a mental note to make sure his future home had eastern-facing windows in the master suite. Western-facing ones, too. _Just in case._

Turning away from her to check the time on his phone – _7:30_, after stretching across the entire length of his own bedroll, Hope pushed himself up using the heels of his hands for support and leaned back, basking in the warmth of the sun on his face before attempting to rouse his still-sleeping companion.

"Hey Light," he said in a voice roughened by that last bit of morning fatigue he still hadn't shaken off. "You awake?"

Lightning rolled away from Hope with a small grunt of protest, and he had to use a hand to stifle his laughter. Typically, she was much easier to wake – on the rare occasion she didn't awaken on her own, anyway – so her unwillingness to get up was a new experience for him. Now that he'd seen it, he had every intention of reminding her of it when she gave him a hard time for being stubborn about his extra five minutes.

"Light, come on," he urged quietly, in case Noel or Yeul were still sleeping. "If you wake up now, we can get breakfast at the bakery down the street before we do this thing with Yeul."

"Sleep better than food," she mumbled, still facing away from him. Grinning evilly, Hope carefully hovered over her, steadying himself on long, fully-extended arms in order to get a better view of her face. As he suspected, her eyes were squeezed shut in an attempt to retake sleep, but she was at least half awake now. Slowly, he bent his head closer to her ear, hardly daring to breathe lest she sense his proximity, and stopped just before his hair grazed her skin. He took a silent breath, and then dove in so close that his lips nearly touched her ear.

"Wake up, Light!" The cheerful words tumbled out of his mouth at increased volume the instant he closed that remaining distance, but he rather quickly came to regret everything ever once her head barreled full speed right into his mouth in her startled uprising. His hand flew to the affected area, wincing as the metallic taste of blood flooded his tongue.

"SON OF A-!" Her first being to unleash a string of choice four-letter words as she vigorously rubbed her head where it made contact with Hope's chin, Lightning's second instinct was to make sure he was okay. She felt a small measure of guilt upon seeing the small trickle of blood that had oozed onto his chin from behind his palm. Very, _very_ small at the moment. Once she had determined no major damage had been done, she punched the arm opposite the hand applying pressure to his face. "What the hell, Hope!?" she hissed angrily. "You _know_ my instincts are bad right now!"

Hope half opened one eye and squinted at her through the tears welling in it due to pain. "I absolutely did this to myself," he chided weakly, his watery gaze following her tear-distorted form as she went to grab paper towels, some damp and some dry, from the kitchen area. "Lesson learned."

"What happened!?" Noel came rushing out into the common area from Yeul's room looking like he was ready to pounce, but straightened to his full height and watched in confusion as Lightning went about cleaning off Hope's face.

"This _idiot_ thought it would be funny to get me up by screaming in my ear," she scowled, poking Hope's cheek firmly with her damp towel-covered fingernail before continuing to wipe up blood. Hope wadded a couple of dry towels into a ball and stuck it in his mouth, using his teeth to hold it against his split lip and bleeding gums.

"I 'ihin' heen ih 'uhd air 'oo ai' 'ad," Hope managed through the now red-stained fibers.

"Didn't catch that, Hope," Noel said slowly, and Hope sighed in exasperation, hastily removing the wadded cloth from his mouth.

"I said, I didn't think it would scare you like that." And just as quickly, the wad of paper was clenched again in the grip of his jaw.

"_Clearly_ you weren't thinking at _all_."

Yeul came padding quietly out of her room in all the commotion, her eyes widening just slightly at the sight in her living room. "Are you two okay?" she asked quietly.

"Uh-huh," Hope voiced again through paper towels, and Lightning frowned at the side of his face where she was wiping off the last of the dried blood.

"For now," she grumbled pointedly at him.

"So much for an uneventful morning before the conference thing," Noel shrugged, shaking his head in disappointment.

* * *

Serah had spent the last hour and a half in the Estheims' home office using their computer to research Rennes. Asking Snow would probably be an easier way to get the information she was looking for, but she had yet to tell him about her acceptance and rejection letters. Regardless, she had taken Nora's words to heart. Even though she had enough money to pay for everything she would need, going to school absolutely free for something she loved was an attractive option, especially considering the money she would save could go towards a new home, her wedding, traveling back and forth to Alsace…

"_There_ you are," Snow said in his signature booming voice as he waltzed into the room, coming around to her side and kissing the top of her hair. "I've been looking all over for you."

Serah had quickly opened another window to hide the one containing all her Rennes-related searches the second she'd sensed his presence. Why, she really couldn't say – this was Snow, after all. They didn't hide things from each other… right?

"Sorry," she laughed nervously, leaning against his hip. "Got caught up in some stuff."

"Wedding stuff?" Snow inquired eagerly, and Serah's face fell.

_Serah Louise Farron, you stop being silly _right_ this instant_, she scolded herself. _We do _not_ hide things from our fiancé. _"Actually…" she said anxiously, taking a deep breath as she brought her searches back into view and allowing Snow to look them over.

"Rennes?" he said simply in question. "You want to get married there? I mean, it's nice – the ocean is nearby, the town is great, and Gadot and the others aren't far from there. I just didn't think you'd go for a destination wedding."

Serah sighed deeply. "You remember how I was applying to university?"

Snow grinned, raising an eyebrow mischievously. "Give my short-term memory a little credit, babe," he chuckled. "Of course I remember."

"Well… I got a couple responses back already, from Strasbourg and from the _Universite de Rennes_," she explained hesitantly.

"…And?"

"Strasbourg rejected me." She did not expect his response to be a burst of laughter, or her reaction to be one of irritation.

"What? And miss out on having _you _in their school? What idiots," he grinned.

"Even with Bartholomew and Estelle on staff, they still passed on me," Serah said quietly. She couldn't help but feel a bit hurt by the rejection. "No idea why."

"Their loss."

"However," she continued, pulling up the _Universite de Rennes_ website, "_this_ place not only accepted me, but they gave me a full scholarship. I'll get to go for free."

"Nice! Congrats, babe!" Snow kissed the top of her hair once more. "It's… kinda far from here, though. What has Sis said about it?"

"I haven't told her yet," Serah admitted. "I don't know that she would leave here just to follow me to a city I'll only be in temporarily."

"Are you kidding me?" Snow chuckled. "She spent _centuries _trying to bring you two back together. Like she's not gonna move to a seaside town for a couple of years to be near you."

"What about Hope?"

Snow blinked. "…What about him?"

"She's not gonna want to leave him either. And _he's_ not gonna want to leave her _or_ his parents." Serah's brow furrowed at the thought. Lightning had indirectly given the impression that she felt Serah didn't need her anymore, whereas Hope had given the less indirect impression that he _did_. Serah wanted her sister nearby, or at least a phone call and a short drive away, but it was high time Lightning's happiness – something Serah was convinced would be found in Hope – was first and foremost, not her little sister's selfish desires.

"So what?" Snow shrugged. "First of all, Nora and Bart are like, the coolest, most easy-going people on this planet. If Hope wants to go, they'll practically push him out the door with their blessing. They've done it once already, pretty much." Snow was bending back his left index finger with his right, and then the middle finger as he continued. "Second, that boy has had it _bad_ for Sis for _lifetimes_. There's no way he won't follow her wherever she goes, assuming she'll let him." Then his ring finger joined the other two. "Third, you're gonna have _me_ with you, so no matter what happens with Light, you won't be alone."

Serah's shoulders felt instantly lighter. "Really? You'll go with me?"

"Well, where else am I gonna go?" he grinned as he gathered her petite frame into his comparatively massive arms, continuing in a voice husky with emotion. "My home is with you, Serah. Wherever that may be. Anywhere else is just a visit away."

Her eyes glistening, Serah leaned up and crashed her mouth against his with combined love, gratitude, and relief in so sudden a movement that he laughed against her lips before eagerly returning the gesture. "Thank you," she whispered against his mouth, and he deepened the kiss in reply before abruptly pulling back. The sparkle she found in his eyes was a bit perplexing and she narrowed her eyes while considering its meaning. "What?"

"Why don't we go visit?" he suggested enthusiastically.

"Visit Rennes?" she echoed incredulously. _"Now?"_

"Sure, why not? We can leave tomorrow, spend a couple of days there, and come home before Hope and Lightning get back from Paris. I'll give Lebreau and the others a call to…" Snow went silent, eyes wide in realization. "Aw, crap.

"What?" Serah asked in concern.

"I, uh…" he faltered, rubbing the back of his neck. "We were supposed to call the gang to give them an update days ago."

"Snow!" she admonished. "They're probably freaking out right now! Lebreau is going to _kill_ you. Go call them this instant!"

"Okay, okay," he laughed, backing up with his hands in the air. "Right away." Snow reached in his back pocket to retrieve his phone, quickly dialing the number he had long since committed to memory. In the meantime, Serah turned back to her research, casually eavesdropping. She couldn't stop the smirk creeping onto her face when screaming on the other end of the phone caused Snow to hold the phone away from his face as he walked out of the library.

"Good luck, hon!" she called after him.

* * *

"So. Shall we?" Yeul placed the napkin she had used to dab at the corner of her mouth back on her lap. The group had just finished breakfast, and Noel and Hope had volunteered to clear the table to afford the ladies some time to prepare before the likely risky endeavor was undertaken. Neither of the men spoke as they worked, thoroughly distracted by their concern regarding this 'conference'. Yeul still wasn't at her best, and Hope had pleaded with her for over an hour before they had all gone to bed to get a doctor to check her out. She had, however, adamantly refused, insisting she felt much better and that the effects of her continued link with her former incarnations should wear off in no time. Hope's efforts got her to agree to put off the conference until this morning, at least. Regardless, he was on high alert, as was Noel, ready to take immediate action should the circumstances call for it. Which, with their luck, they probably would.

"Yeul…"

Hope sighed as Lightning embarked on what he was certain would end as yet another vain attempt to talk Yeul out of this.

"Are you _absolutely sure_ you're feeling up to thi-"

"Lightning, how I feel matters little. It has to be now – for more reasons than one."

Yeul's voice had a frustrated, authoritative edge to it that shocked him, and, by the look of it, Light as well. The young former seeress had never shown all that much emotion to begin with, but certainly never _impatience_. Even Noel looked taken aback, and he knew her best. But then, something occurred to him – _She's worried about Noel_. Yeul was as aware of the dangers as they were, if not more so, and she knew Noel was also at risk. Hope was certain she could see the future anymore, and as much of a repeatedly fatal curse as that her foresight had been, not having it anymore very likely terrified her. It scared _him_ not knowing if they would all be okay, or if all this ability business would turn out to be nothing much at all or tear them apart. It was said that ignorance was bliss, but in this case – as in many others – he vehemently disagreed.

Lightning sighed heavily in defeat, hanging her head in resignation. Hope hated being so helpless. He just wanted to know how to fix everything, but on this world, doing so was currently outside his ability. All he could do was be there if and when she needed him and hope that was enough.

"Fine," he heard her say, the tremulous nature of her voice making his throat tighten. She was afraid. "Let's get this over with."

Yeul nodded once, then looked to Noel. "Would you please help me with the bedrolls? We'll need a soft surface for this."

As Noel leapt to her assistance, Hope caught Lightning's eye and attempted a reassuring smile – one he knew failed to reach his eyes. At the very least, he tried to make sure she wasn't looking into a direct reflection of the trepidation shimmering in her own.

"Lightning, please take a seat here directly across from me," Yeul instructed, once what looked troublingly like a crash pad comprised of pillows, bedrolls, and blankets had been haphazardly thrown together on the floor, well away from any obstacles. Lightning did as she was told without hesitation, crossing her legs at the seeress's suggestion. "There's a chance this could get a bit rough so you'll want to be as stable as possible," she had said.

"Gee," Lightning muttered sarcastically, shifting until she'd found a relatively comfortable position on the unevenly cushioned surface. "That makes me feel a _whole_ lot better."

Noel knelt on the floor just behind Yeul, looking every bit the bodyguard he had always been, and Hope mimicked him by sitting just to the rear of Lightning's shoulder. He noticed her chest expanding a little faster than normal and squeezed her shoulder in a gesture he hoped would offer comfort.

"Please don't touch her while we conference," Yeul said quickly. "It might pull you into the landscape and I'm unsure if I can shepherd _three_ minds into the Unseen Realm." Hope blinked, and dropped his hand from Lightning shoulder back to his lap.

"I'll be right here the entire time," he assured her. "You'll be fine."

Lightning nodded tersely over her shoulder, then locked her attention on the girl before her, who was holding her hands out across the tiny space between them with palms facing up. "Place your hands on top of mine," Yeul instructed, and with a surprising steadiness, she obeyed. Yeul's eyes slid shut instantly. "Concentrate on the connection," she said through deep, even breaths.

Lightning felt a bit silly, but instinctively mimicked Yeul's posture and breathing despite how uncomfortable she felt with how… supernatural everything felt. _I guess we _are_ kind of communicating with the dead_, she reasoned.

"Focus," Yeul commanded sharply, and Lightning's eyes flew open. Could she read her mind now or something? Shaking off her unease, Lightning closed her eyes again, and instead of thinking about how awkward she felt, she genuinely, intensely concentrated on the softness of Yeul's hands against the roughness of her own. "Focus," Yeul repeated, quieter this time as if she were speaking either to herself or those she was attempting to contact.

Gradually, like the light of the rising sun, Lightning felt a strange force begin to pulsate from their hands. Her curiosity as to whether or not the energy was a tangible thing prompted her to open her eyes to see, but to her disquietude, she found she couldn't move much at all. The current had crawled its way up her arms, into her spine, and throughout the rest of her body, a sort of massaging conductivity that might have been pleasant in a way if not for the circumstances. Just as she started to feel relatively at ease, the energy intensified several times its original strength all at once and she was positive her head was going to explode. Her spine snapped rigidly and completely straight with enough force to cause her head to fly back with nearly enough speed to give her whiplash.

"No, Hope!" she vaguely heard Noel yell. "Don't touch her! This is just… what this looks like."

"Her nose is _bleeding_, Noel!" came Hope's distant, but hostile reply. "This can't be normal!"

"Lay even a finger on her and you risk doing even more damage!"

Lightning could hear Noel and Hope continue to argue, but their voices were incredibly faint. Why did they sound so far away? Weren't they right next to her and Yeul? If not for the volume of the wind and waves, she reasoned, she might have been able to hear exactly what they were saying.

_Wait… what?_

"Isn't _this_ a pleasant surprise." The breathy baritone of her old rival made her skin crawl, and her eyes flew open to reveal the last place she ever wanted to see again.

"Valhalla," she exhaled as her gaze fell on the alabaster stone walls of her late charge's palace.

"Yes," Yeul said simply, and as Lightning turned her attention back to the young girl, she gasped audibly upon seeing not only _their_ Yeul seated in front of her just as she had been, but _hundreds_ of Yeuls materializing one by one across the beach behind her, like stars just poking through the dim light of dusk. She couldn't believe how many there were… how many Yeuls were forced to die young all for the sake of a selfish, foolish deity who thought she knew best.

"Why have you come here?" Caius demanded. And, in a softer tone, "Why did you bring her here, Yeul?"

Lightning steeled herself before answering. "I need to know what's happening to me and my friends," she said firmly, her eyes following him as he crossed from behind her to behind Yeul's evidently frozen form. If not for the way her brows were knit in concentration, she could well have passed for a statue.

"You mean you haven't figured it out?" Caius drawled condescendingly. "I thought you were better than that, Warrior Goddess."

"Please don't antagonize our guest, Caius," the chorus of Yeuls scolded gently, and the dark man complied despite the scowl that flashed across his face. "Savior. Welcome back."

"I'm not the savior anymore," Lightning spat. "I'm not supposed to be."

"That is true," the Yeuls conceded. "You ceased to be the Savior the moment you became the Goddess."

"About that," Lightning said curiously. "Yeul – er, _our_ Yeul – said I became the Goddess after I saved Hope and sent him off to the New World. When exactly did I _stop_?"

"Your powers as the Goddess should have been exhausted in the final strike against Bhunivelze," one of the Yeuls explained. "It was this power which trapped him in crystal."

"There should have been nothing active left after that," another Yeul chimed in from further back in the crowd. "Somehow, your power reflected off of Bhunivelze instead of being absorbed by him. It was then that your power was fractured by the crystal and flew into each of your friends."

"That's not what you said before," Lightning argued, more with Yeul across from her than Yeul who had just spoken. "You said _I_ was the one who gave power to protect my friends."

"The only things you were able to give were your strength and your ability to speak in dreams," Caius interjected disdainfully. "They were given to you by Etro, not but Bhunivelze, and so you, too, were able to gift it after taking Etro's place. Despite surpassing the Creator god in power, that which he gave you was not yours to bestow in turn."

"We apologize for the earlier misinformation," the same Yeul said contritely. "Some things have… come to light since then."

"Then they… every divine power I had…" Lightning's breath quickened in horror once she fully realized just how much danger they were in. "But… but they were _all_ with me for that last strike," she cried. "Sazh, Serah, even Dajh! You're telling me they _do_ have some kind of power eating away at them?"

"That's precisely what we're telling you," Caius confirmed. Lightning briefly wondered how hard it was for him to hold the holier-than-thou at bay, and despite the severity of the situation, the corner of her mouth twitched. "However, _who_ has _what_ power remains unknown to us."

"We already know Snow can heal himself quickly and automatically," Lightning informed them. "And Hope had my old chronostasis ability until I took it away from him somehow."

"You have a power all your own, you know," yet another Yeul spoke up. "Unification. It is you, and you alone, who can bring everyone together and rejoin the divine powers of god. Once you have done this, I fear you will face the greatest trial of your life."

"What could be harder than going against the Creator?" Lightning sneered. "That was pretty hard. Though I won't deny that damn Aeronite took _forever_ to take down…"

"That, we cannot tell you," Caius said, looking off across the great ocean of Chaos.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because we do not know exactly what it will be," Yeul – _their_ Yeul, this time – told her, with some difficulty as maintaining the connection was clearly straining her.

Lightning's frustration reached astronomical levels. She still needed more answers, but it seemed they were either unknown or kept from her deliberately. In the end, she supposed answers didn't matter as much as the solution to the problem. "So what do I do to fix this?"

The Yeuls smiled, which was quite the sight to see as an almost ethereal glow flickered around their vast number. "You must again become the Goddess. Only then will you have the ability to save your friends _and_ yourself."

"As well as the world," Yeul closest to Caius added, her tone full of warning.

Lightning blinked. "The world? What danger is the world in?"

"The new world is in peril so long as your powers remain in it," Caius explained, sounding annoyed. "They aren't meant to be there. The world itself was born of the Eternal Paradox, and so its continued existence is delicate. Your magic is tearing both it and your friends apart little by little."

"The 'eternal paradox'? What's-"

"The only thing that isn't destructive is your ability to communicate through dreams, since _that_ is a remnant of the crystal and this realm, not of God," their Yeul interrupted. "But, just as my ability to communicate with the Unseen Realm like this is steadily fading, so will the ability to do that. Best to take advantage while you can."

Lightning sighed. "So I just have to get everybody together and take back all my powers, and then I'm the goddess again."

"No," Caius said quickly, cutting off the end of her sentence. "You must kill a god, save a soul, and offer it rebirth. Those are the three requisites to godhood."

"Do you qualify as a god now?" Lightning asked sarcastically. "I wouldn't mind a little payback-"

"Not me," he replied simply.

Lightning narrowed her eyes angrily. "If you haven't noticed, the new world is a _little_ short on deities."

"Think again, Warrior Goddess."

"…Are you saying I should kill _myself?_ I thought you said I wasn't the Goddess anymo-"

"No, Lightning, _think_ again," the Yeuls chorused. "Think about what happens when people are trapped in crystal stasis."

"What do you mean 'what happens'?" Lightning shrugged. "Nothing. People in crystal don't really do anything."

"_Wrong_," Caius barked. "They _dream_."

At once, the truth behind their implication smacked into her with tangible force, freezing the blood in her veins. "You mean… Bhunivelze is…" She trailed off as her breath quickened to a hazardous speed. "Oh no… please, no, no no no…"

"Judging by the color draining from your face, I believe you've finally caught on," the pompous man smirked.

"But he… we _killed _him!" she cried. "We killed him and he was entombed in crystal, out in some realm I have _zero _access to. You're telling me he's still alive?"

"Where do you think your new world's infrastructure came from? Its history?" Caius sneered. "Do you think all your belongings had souls as well and were reborn alongside you? _You_ weren't the Creator god, you know. You were merely a guide."

Lightning shook her head repeatedly, unable to wrap her mind around what she had been told. "Well… how am I supposed to defeat something I can't find? And what souls are there to save when I've already saved all of them?" Her heart crumbled the more she realized how hopeless their situation was. "And since I can't do any of the things you suggested, how does that fix anything?"

"You _can_ do that which we have suggested," the Yeuls said. "A path will open for you and you will have no choice but to follow it. This path will lead you not only to the sleeping god, but to the final souls in need of salvation."

"Souls? As in more than one?"

"Everything will reveal itself in time, Warrior Goddess," Caius cut in before any of the Yeuls could answer. "But _your_ Yeul needs to be set free from all of this, _now_. Look at her!"

And Lightning did, eyes going wide at the way the girl had slumped forward, as if she hadn't the strength to hold herself up anymore or draw anything more than the shallow ragged breaths she was currently. "Yeul! Don't you _dare_ die on me," she yelled, squeezing the girl's hands from where they had been resting against hers the entire time. When Yeul failed to respond, Lightning's heart raced again in panic. "What am I supposed to do!? She's the one who brought us here!"

"Let go of her," he instructed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That will break the link and you will both wake up."

"Is that even safe?" she asked, not caring how evident her terror was.

"It will be… unpleasant," Caius responded, frowning at the earthbound Yeul's condition. "But it _will_ work and you should both be safe."

"We will end the connection with Yeul forever once you both have left this place," the other Yeuls said in congress. "She must live. For Noel."

"We will contact you again directly if it is deemed necessary," Caius told her. If she didn't know better, she would've sworn he actually cared about what happened to them. "Now, let go of one hand, and one hand only, to break the connection. You will need a hold of the other in order to guide her back. And, when you _do _get back, inform Noel that I will haunt him mercilessly for the rest of his days if he allows that girl to come to harm."

Gaze flying between the host of Yeuls, Caius, and the Yeul with whom she had arrived, and then casting one last glance at the green-lit, gloomy magnificence of Valhalla, Lightning nodded. "I will," she told Caius. "And thank you. _All_ of you."

"We wish you luck, dear Goddess," the Yeuls told her sadly. "You will need it."

And with that, Lightning pried one of her hands away from the girl – which was much easier said than done – and if not for the solidity of the link between the hands still joined together, she was sure she would have been tossed aside in the violence that followed. In the back of her mind, she knew she was still sitting in the living room with Yeul, Hope, and Noel. She clung desperately to that knowledge as her consciousness thrashed wildly in the storm of Chaos that appeared the instant Lightning let go of Yeul's hand.

It took almost everything Lightning had to concentrate enough just to keep her hold on Yeul, never mind trying to guide the two of them back to safety. Her head whirled in every direction looking for a landmark by which to navigate back to their bodies, but all she could see was the Chaos. Desperation set in like a plague, until something occurred to her in a rare moment of blind optimism.

_Hope found me in this once_, she thought. _Maybe he can find me again._

"Hope!" she called into the crackling darkness, barely able to hear herself over the whistling and moaning of the dark torrent. "Hope, please!"

But there was no answer, no light, no nothing. Desperation becoming panic, Lightning cried out again and again as she concentrated on his face, his voice, every precious word he had said to her in the last several days… but he didn't come. At the continued lack of response, she nearly gave up, but something inside kept her going. Hope needed her. Serah needed her. They _all_ needed her now, because all of this was her fault. She'd be damned if she let them down willingly. Lightning filled her lungs with the stinging air in preparation for what was guaranteed to be a struggle to the surface of their consciousness, tensing her muscles before pushing off into what she hoped was the right direction.

"Noel…"

All the air left her in one shocked exhale as Lightning looked to the girl she had assumed was unconscious. Yeul's eyes were still closed, but her lips were moving, albeit barely, as she chanted his name over and over. To Lightning's surprise, a light shone through the suffocating darkness – a beacon to show them the way. Gritting her teeth in resolve, the ex-soldier kicked and pulled with her free arm, doing whatever she could to guide them towards the light, dragging Yeul's light, but dead weight behind her. Her muscles screamed as she fought against the winds still trying to drag them down, and just as doubt flashed in her mind, the wind shifted, shooting them with alarming speed towards the light. Lightning found herself struggling to slow down their approach, but her attempts were in vain. Using her free arm as a shield, she squeezed her eyes shut as they were thrust into the dizzying brightness.

* * *

Two cries of surprise and discomfort and her back slamming against something were the next things Lightning knew. Her head was throbbing, and the light shining behind her lids was painfully offensive. No way was she subjecting herself to _that_.

"Light! Light, please, wake up…"

If not for the hysterical edge to Hope's voice, she might have kept her eyes closed, but she let them slowly flutter open until they focused on his frantic expression. "Hope… my head…" she mumbled, bringing a hand to her furrowed brow. All at once, Hope scooped her up in his arms as all the air left him and burrowed his face in her hair.

"Oh, thank god you're all right," he breathed in little more than a whisper, as if he didn't trust his voice at full volume. Lightning still felt incredibly disoriented, but she melted into his embrace anyway in tired relief.

"What… what happened?" she eventually asked once she felt like she might be able to sit of her own accord. In a flash, everything came back to her and she shot up straight, only swaying for a moment. "Yeul! Is she okay?" She crawled over to where the girl was gathered limply in Noel's arms, shocked at the distance she had to cover considering they had originally been seated close enough that their knees had been touching. She saw her own fear reflected on the young man's face and went cold.

"…Noel?"

"I can't get her to respond," he choked, his voice wavering dangerously. "She's alive, but…"

"I'm calling an ambulance," Hope announced, rushing across the room to retrieve his phone. "She can't argue with me about it now."

As he went about making the arrangements to get Yeul to the hospital, Lightning knelt over the girl as Noel continued trying to gently rouse her, but didn't dare touch her.

"What the hell happened in there, Lightning?" the broken man pleaded. It sounded like he wanted to be angry but couldn't quite manage it through his concern. "What's wrong with her?"

"I wish I knew, Noel," she replied quietly. "One minute she was fine…ish, and the next, Caius was telling me to let go of her hand to get her out of there. She wasn't looking too good-"

"Paramedics will be here in two minutes," Hope interrupted after hanging up his phone and tossing it on the countertop. "Noel, carry her down to the street. Light and I will get everything locked up here and be right behind you."

"Okay," Noel said in a hollow voice as Lightning helped him to his feet, careful not to disturb the fragile body cradled in his arms. "Thanks, Hope."

"Don't worry about it," he clipped, ushering them out the door. Once the door had shut behind them, Hope leaned his elbow against it, his forehead pressed to the back of his hand. Lightning's heart sank at how utterly defeated he looked with his shoulders slumped and ribs expanding and contracting at a decreasingly rapid pace. Once his breath had calmed, he turned to face her with a pained smile plastered on his face, as if it simply being there would make everything better. A naïve superstition, but a nice thought nonetheless. When it faltered, he broke eye contact and busied himself with packing a bag for the two who had just left the flat.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Lightning asked hesitantly, wringing her hands together nervously as she watched him rush around the apartment. He was clearly upset, possibly with her. Rather than get defensive about it like she normally would, she decided walking on eggshells was currently the better option.

"No," he said. She frowned at his overly polite tone, but again – eggshells. So she got up just long enough to transfer from the floor to the couch and sat on the edge of it in anticipation of the bomb he wanted to drop. She didn't have to wait long.

"We are _never_ doing that again," he yelled suddenly, dropping the bag in his hand and whirling around to face her. Lightning's hands were much easier to look at than the pain and anger on his face, and it was there her eyes focused. "Do you have _any _idea what it was like from where I sat?"

"No-"

"You looked like you were _dying_, Light. It looked like you were in more than enough pain to kill you, your nose was bleeding, and you were white as a sheet…" He trailed off, his breath racing again as he paced back and forth like a road-bound squirrel trying to determine which direction to run in to avoid oncoming traffic. "You were sweating and your skin was all… _mottled_… and I had to just sit there and watch! I couldn't even clean you up until after you flew into me!" Hope was outright yelling now, his voice cracking with raw emotion. "And poor Yeul looked even worse! I've never seen Noel so scared in his life, but there he was, telling me everything would be fine and to just let you two do your thing. _He_ was trying to calm _me_ down when Yeul was worse off. It was _horrible_, Light. Don't _ever_ put yourself through something like that again, do you understand? We will find another way. We _always_ find another way. I can't lose you, Light, not again! I can't…"

Hope uttered a strangled grunt of disgust before turning away and storming over to the window a few feet from where Lightning sat. She chanced a look in his direction and was crushed by the way he rested his forehead on the glass, gripping the windowsill so tightly his arms shook with the effort. Even so, she was glad he had lost it since he was often just as guilty of internalizing his problems as she was, even after telling her it wasn't a healthy thing to do.

Cautiously, she stood and shuffled closer to where he stood. She could hear his uneven breathing once she was next to him, and slowly so as not to startle him, she gently snaked her arms around his waist from behind, resting her cheek on the broad space between his shoulder blades. A large part of her knew his anger wasn't truly directed at her, but at himself. _He_ was the one who had believed they had no choice, and had said as much the many times she had protested.

"I'm sorry, Hope," she murmured, tightening her hold on him. "I'm so sorry."

It took longer for him to respond than she would have liked, so when she felt his hand trail along her skin until it rested on top of hers, she released the breath she had been holding and pressed her forehead gently against his spine in relief.

"No, Light," he finally said, so quietly she barely heard him. "_I'm _sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

"You were afraid," she said simply against his back. "I've snapped at you for less." Hope released her arm and turned his body until it faced her head on, enveloping her in a desperate embrace.

"You can't die, Light," he whispered next to her ear. "You _can't_. Not after everything we've been through to get here."

Lightning let out a little bark of a laugh before she replied. "I don't plan to any time soon. Besides, I haven't kept my promise to you yet." Then, shyly and quickly, she lifted herself onto the balls of her feet and kissed him chastely on the cheek to accent her point, withdrawing from his grasp immediately after in embarrassment.

"We, um… need to get going," she said hastily, busying herself with her belongings until her cheeks returned to their normal color. Had she looked back at Hope, she would have seen his fingers ghosting the skin her lips had just grazed, the burgeoning half-smile giving stark contrast to the worried frown it had replaced. Before she could, he shook himself out of his stupor and gathered the rest of what they needed to take to the hospital without a word.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, following a passing employee's direction, he and Lightning were walking briskly through the sanitary white halls of the hospital Yeul had been taken to until they finally reached the emergency room waiting area, where Noel was pacing restlessly.

"Any news?" Hope asked, setting the bags he had brought down on the nearest seat.

"Not yet," Noel said automatically. "I've asked the front desk a lot, but I think I'm starting to tick them off."

"That's ridiculous," Lightning scoffed. "Wait here, I'll see if I can find somebody-"

"Mister Kreiss?"

All three of them whirled around towards the interruption, and Hope was relieved to see a doctor standing near them. By the way Noel had snapped to attention, Hope surmised this doctor was the one treating Yeul. However, the way the woman motioned for Noel to follow her into the hall was worrisome.

"Are we supposed to go with them, or…" Lightning wondered, and Hope shook his head.

"She would have just talked here if we were supposed to hear whatever it is she has to say," he said. Lightning sank into the nearest chair and leaned her head against the wall behind it. Hope joined her from the next seat over, opting to lean forward and rest his forearms on his thighs. He could move quicker from this position if he had to.

The minutes passed, and Hope found himself cursing the noise in the room; if not for the incessant coughing to his right, the television blaring on the wall across the way, or the teenager talking loudly on his phone in the corner, it might have been possible to hear some of what the doctor was relaying to Noel. He didn't know Yeul very well aside from his research on the Farseers, which said nothing about her individual personality, but he _did_ know Noel and he knew how much the guy cared about her. For that reason as much as any, he fretted for the girl's well-being. If anything happened to her… well. He knew how he would feel if anything happened to Light.

After several agonizing minutes had gone by, Noel walked back into the waiting room alone, his movements mechanic and face completely devoid of emotion. _That can't be good_, Hope thought.

"What did the doctor say? Is Yeul okay?" Lightning pried in Hope's stead. Noel's answer chilled both of them to the bone.

"She's alive, but… only just. She may never wake up."

**[end ch. 14]**

* * *

Yeah, I know.

See everybody next week!


End file.
